(Oct. 14) WASHINGTON – Federal heating assistance, which helps more than 133,000 Minnesotans keep warm in the winter, has fallen prey to the federal shutdown.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce, which administers the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, said it has enough money to keep processing applications for the program that helps subsidize heating bills.
But the shutdown has left the state without any money for the program and there may not be any funding until late November or even December.
“We need our annual federal LIHEAP award to be able to start making payments on applicant energy accounts,” an emailed statement from the Department of Commerce said. “Our annual award typically arrives about a month after a budget or continuing resolution is decided. The shutdown will likely delay our funding by about a month after it is resolved.”
Minnesota was slated to receive about $114 million in LIHEAP funds.
But on Tuesday, the 14th day of the federal shutdown, there was no resolution in sight. Democrats continued to reject a GOP stopgap bill, or continuing resolution, that would fund the federal government until Nov. 21 but does not contain restoration of GOP Medicaid cuts or an extension.
Both renters and homeowners can qualify for the program and eligibility is based on income and household size. A family of four, for example, could earn up to $71,999 annually and qualify for LIHEAP and the energy subsidies range from $550 to $1,400 a household.
Those payments are sent directly to energy companies and utilities or fuel providers, including companies that sell propane, oil and even wood.
The shutdown’s impact on heating assistance funding was evident when applicants called non-profits like the Community Action Partnership of Hennepin County to sign up for the program this week.
“It is uncertain when funding will be available,” the partnership said in a phone message to prospective applicants.
The post Heating assistance for low-income Minnesotans on hold during shutdown appeared first on MinnPost.
