Washington D.C – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, announced today that Iowa has been awarded $1,874,008 through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The emergency contingency funding will help eligible low-income Iowans meet home energy costs, and is in addition to the $72.6 million in LIHEAP funding Senator Harkin previously secured for the state in Fiscal Year 2010. Funds released today are the remaining from FY 2010 LIHEAP contingency fund available for this fiscal year.
“For people who are struggling economically, winter can be a desperate time,” Senator Harkin said. “This funding will help thousands of low-income households, especially those with young children and elderly, make it through the season.”
In 2009, 95,234 Iowan households received LIHEAP assistance – one of the highest numbers on record. A nationwide survey of households receiving LIHEAP aid found that 42 percent of recipients went without medical or dental insurance and 32 percent went without food for at least one day.