WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has followed through on a congressional request to release emergency funds from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).  Nationwide, $490 million will go to help low-income households, particularly senior citizens on fixed incomes, afford the cost of heating their homes this winter.

“I’m relieved that a substantial portion of these funds – nearly $10 million – will go directly to Missouri families struggling with the high cost of heating their homes this winter,” Emerson said.  “Not only has it been extremely cold, but many families are struggling during a tough economic time.  It costs just as much to heat the home of a well-off working family as it does to heat the home of their grandmother who is struggling to balance the costs of prescription drugs, food and heat or a neighboring family struggling to make ends meet.  This funding will definitely help.”

Contingency funds from LIHEAP are in addition to basic, automatic funding from the program to states.  Eligible families can use the funds to pay for home heating or cooling, other energy costs, or weatherization and improvements to make homes more energy efficient.

“The contingency funds of the LIHEAP program are expressly for times like these.  As an annual supporter of the assistance funds, I think it is very important to make sure everyone can keep the heat on during the winter.  At the same time, we very much need a national energy policy that brings stable and affordable supplies of U.S. fuels – including natural gas – to the American market.  That, too, will go a long way to help families stay warm during our coldest months,” Emerson said.