On August 10th, 2021 the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill which adds $500 Million for LIHEAP Over 5 Year, provides $3.5B for WAP, and creates Water Assistance Needs Study & 40 Pilot Projects. The WAP increase is a ten-fold increase in the...Read more
In the second COVID-19 stimulus bill passed by Congress, there is no specific funding for LIHEAP, and funding for rental assistance and utility assistance are shared. This document details how funds will be used in the Emergency Rental Assistance Section of the stimulus.
"Grantees shall...Read more
The Department of Health and Human Services announced the Low-Income Home Water Assistance Program that was passed apart of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. LIWAP will be a sister program to LIHEAP. OCS will be providing guidance in the coming weeks on plan submission, reporting...Read more
The document here presented gives an overview of the policies and programs that have eventually molded into what we know today as LIHEAP. That said, despite its brevity, the document provides viewers with key dates and events that have led Departments of the Government, such as the Energy...Read more
On December 21st, the House and Senate passed the Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020 after a weekend of high-level negotiating between leadership. Unfortunately, specific funding for LIHEAP is not expected to be included in the package. However, the option for utility assistance...Read more
The artifacts that I chose throughout March discuss policy relating to crisis and crisis recovery on the federal level and in Philadelphia. The artifacts regarding federal policy were chosen after sifting through articles that resulted from google searches using the key words “LIHEAP” “...Read more
This article touches on just about every construct that constitutes energy burden. Using the City of New Orleans as an example of a high energy burden city, it illustrates how a high energy burden contributes to the affordability crisis in American cities. Stein explores how wealth disparity and...Read more
This source was recently published and is an overview of energy poverty as seen in the United States and compared to the UK.Read more
This artifact discusses the overlap between the COVID-19 crisis and the housing and utility affordability crisis. Avila begins by citing statistics for housing and utility debt accumulated during the pandemic, and articualtes how this debt and the housing and utility crisis as a whole mirrors...Read more
This article discusses the effects of the utility shutoff moratorium as a policy (an emergency policy) that had no vision for long term pay back. I did not count the number of times the phrase "keeing the lights on" was repeated, but I should have. The article also describes how different...Read more