She lives in a small apartment, doesn't own a computer or television, and uses heat sparingly. But in an old building without energy-efficient central heat, utility bills still add up.
That's why she's grateful for the $300 in home energy assistance she's received each year since the mid-1990s, when a divorce left her with an income of about $450 a month. She earns more now that she gets Social Security checks, but still relies on food stamps and energy aid to make ends meet.
"Not having to pay that $45 in electricity each month allows me to then purchase food," said Anderson, 65, of Clarksville. "I'm just trying to be as frugal as I can and trying to be a good steward of the money God has given me."
Agencies that provide home energy assistance to Anderson and nearly 170,000 other low-income Tennessee households are bracing for budget cuts this winter, even as temperatures drop and energy prices and unemployment remain high.
Congress and the Obama administration have proposed reducing funding for the popular Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program -- cuts that could lower or eliminate aid to thousands of laid-off workers, veterans, and retirees living on fixed incomes, advocates say.
A record 9 million people across the country applied for LIHEAP money last year, up from about 4 million a few years back, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association.
Applications are expected to set another record in fiscal 2012, which began Oct. 1, because millions of people can't find work.
"Because we're not expecting the average number of households applying to decline and the economy is still pretty weak, this is really a tough time to be cutting LIHEAP," Wolfe said.
Under LIHEAP, the federal government provides grants to states, which then distribute them to their neediest residents through local social service agencies. Most of the aid goes to help people pay heating bills in the winter, but states can also use it to help with summer cooling bills.
LIHEAP received $4.7 billion in fiscal 2011, down from $5 billion in each of the previous two fiscal years. The Obama administration proposed $2.5 billion for LIHEAP for fiscal 2012 and paid out an initial allocation of $1.7 billion in October.
Appropriations committees in the House and Senate have recommended giving the program $3.4 billion and $3.6 billion, respectively, in fiscal 2012. The $1.7 billion already allocated will be subtracted from the final figure.
Advocates expect the chambers to settle on $3.5 billion - a 25 percent decrease from 2011.
Appropriators say the cuts are necessary to free up funding to target health care fraud, beef up the Race to the Top education reform program, lower the national debt, and pay for other priorities.
But advocates and some lawmakers say savings should be found elsewhere. A bipartisan group of senators from northern states introduced a bill last week that would restore the program's funding to $4.7 billion, and House lawmakers introduced similar legislation on Monday.
While discussions about LIHEAP often center on New England and the Midwest, where long winters make energy assistance a priority, local officials say the program is crucial in Tennessee too.
"If you cut LIHEAP, that's going to be a lot of people who are going to suffer," said Leslie Chiodini, executive director of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Community Action Agency, which distributes LIHEAP funds in the county. "I don't think a lot of people realize how important this program is."
In fiscal 2011, Tennessee received $74 million to provide aid to more than 169,000 households. That's a jump from 134,347 recipients in 2010 and 127,477 in 2009.
More than half those households included a disabled person and about 30 percent included a senior citizen, according to the state Department of Human Services.
Yearly benefits in Tennessee range from $300 to $600 and average $450. To qualify, a family of four must earn less than $33,526 a year -- 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
Chiodini said her agency has received $1.2 million to provide aid to 2,000 households since July, but money will run out in January without additional funding. That would mean a waiting list of around 2,000 people this spring, she estimated.
Seniors on fixed incomes like Judith Anderson make up a large portion of LIHEAP recipients in Montgomery County, she said.
Without heating aid, she said, "more than likely they'll either go without food or medicine, or they'll get their utilities cut off."
Spokeswoman Lisa McCrady said the Metro Action Commission has distributed LIHEAP aid to 6,116 Davidson County residents since July 1. Because of expected funding cuts, she anticipates the number of households served by June 30 will decline to 12,265 from last year's 17,712.
So far Metro has received $5 million for LIHEAP this year, versus $8.4 million last year, she said.
Meanwhile, the average electricity rate in Nashville has jumped nearly 25 percent over the last five years. A typical household using an average of 1,300 kilowatt hours a month is paying $119.03 as of October, compared with $95.81 five years ago, according to Nashville Electric Service. More than half of Tennesseans use electricity to heat their homes.
NES and Piedmont Gas may be able to provide some additional help to low-income Nashville residents if Congress enacts cuts, but not enough to cover a substantial funding dip, McCrady said.
"We'll just continue to provide service to the amount of people we can serve," she said. "Anytime we receive additional money, we have no problem whatsoever with utilizing all the funds that were given to us. It shows us that the need is there."
Mike Smith, executive director of Southwest Human Resources Agency, said each of the eight West Tennessee counties under his agency's umbrella will run out of money by the end of the month. The possible exception is Madison County, which receives more funds because its population is larger.
"There's just so much unknown on the national level, we just kind of have to prepare for the worst," he said, adding that he's made plans for budget cuts of 5, 10 and 15 percent.
His agency serves about 4,000 households and has a waiting list of 8,000. Officials continue to accept applications, but they expect to serve only half of those who apply for LIHEAP aid this year, a sharp reduction from previous years, when they've served 80-to- 90 percent, Smith said.
"It doesn't look good," he said. "We've already had a pretty harsh winter, and we're just getting started."
No comments:
Post a Comment