What This Bill Does
This bill changes the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to give more money and help to households struggling to pay for heating and cooling costs. The bill focuses on expanding cooling assistance during heat waves and making it easier for eligible people to get this help.
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Who It Affects
- Low-income households (families earning less than certain income limits)
- States and territories that run heating and cooling assistance programs
- Indian Tribes
- Home energy suppliers (companies that provide electricity, gas, or other energy)
- Schools and local educational agencies
- Workforce development organizations and unions
- Federal agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Key Provisions
- The bill increases funding for home energy assistance programs and creates new money specifically for cooling help during extreme heat events. (Sec. 3, Sec. 6)
- States must allow people to say they qualify for help without requiring them to submit proof of income, citizenship, or need. (Sec. 7)
- Home energy suppliers receiving assistance payments cannot charge late fees to households for 6 months before and 6 months after receiving program funds, and cannot shut off energy for 1 year after a household receives assistance. (Sec. 8)
- States must operate their heating and cooling assistance programs year-round and make online application available within 5 years. (Sec. 8)
- The bill creates a new grant program for states and local governments to help eligible households reduce energy use and transition away from fossil fuels. (Sec. 12)
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What Changes
If this law passes, eligible low-income households will have easier access to heating and cooling help because they can self-attest (state on their own) that they qualify instead of providing documents. Home energy suppliers will face new rules preventing late fees and service shutoffs for households receiving assistance. States will receive significantly more funding to help more people and must expand their programs to work year-round instead of seasonally. New cooling assistance will specifically target households during extreme heat events.
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Important Definitions
The bill defines these key terms:
- **HEAP coordinator**: An employee who runs a heating and cooling assistance program and whose salary is paid partly or completely with program funds. (Sec. 4)
- **Local coordinating agency**: A local organization that takes in applications or approves benefits for the state on behalf of the state agency. (Sec. 4)
- **State agency**: Any state agency that runs the heating and cooling assistance program. (Sec. 4)
- **Extreme heat**: Heat that exceeds what is normal for a local area in terms of how long it lasts, how intense it is, how long the heat season lasts, or how often it happens. (Sec. 6)
- **Heat event**: An occurrence of extreme heat that could affect human health. (Sec. 6)
- **Covered household**: An eligible household in an area where the President or Secretary has declared a major disaster or emergency. (Sec. 5)
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Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 405
To amend the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to increase
the availability of heating and cooling assistance, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 14, 2023
Mr.
MARKEY
(for
himself,
Ms.
WARREN,
Mrs.
GILLIBRAND,
Mr.
BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. PADILLA) intro-
duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To amend the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act
of 1981 to increase the availability of heating and cooling
assistance, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Heating and Cooling
4
Relief Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
Congress finds that:
7
(1) Energy remains unaffordable for low-income
8
households. Nationally, low-income households spend
9
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•S 405 IS
a larger portion of their income on home energy
1
costs than other households. The average low-income
2
household’s energy burden is 3 times that of other
3
households. The report for the Household Pulse Sur-
4
vey of the Bureau of the Census, issued on Decem-
5
ber 22, 2021, noted that, for families with incomes
6
of less than $35,000 a year, about 51 percent said
7
that they reduced or went without basic household
8
necessities, such as medicine or food, in order to pay
9
an energy bill, for at least one month in the last
10
year.
11
(2) The Low-Income Housing Energy Assist-
12
ance Program was authorized by Congress to reduce
13
home energy burdens with heating and cooling as-
14
sistance. In 2019, only 16 percent of income-eligible
15
households received a subsidy under the program.
16
(3) Climate change is fueling increasingly in-
17
tense winter storms and extreme temperatures.
18
(4) Heat waves are increasingly common as cli-
19
mate change accelerates, and now occur more often
20
in major cities across the United States. The aver-
21
age heat wave season across 50 cities is approxi-
22
mately 47 days longer now than it was in the 1960s.
23
As a result, the Federal Government should provide
24
further cooling assistance for communities in need.
25
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(5) The loss of home energy service due to high
1
energy burdens is one of the primary reasons for
2
homelessness, especially for families with children.
3
In some housing contexts, loss of home energy serv-
4
ice is a grounds for eviction.
5
(6) The Federal Government should expand and
6
update the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance
7
Program, as part of a robust Federal social safety
8
net, to—
9
(A) protect families against unaffordable
10
home energy bills and home energy shutoffs, by
11
providing sufficient funding and imposing regu-
12
lations where necessary;
13
(B) ensure all low- and moderate-income
14
families have access to affordable home cooling
15
powered by renewable energy, which will enable
16
households to adapt to rising temperatures due
17
to climate change and promote climate resil-
18
iency;
19
(C) enhance outreach—
20
(i) by including nontraditional part-
21
ners, including home energy suppliers,
22
local educational agencies, and entities car-
23
rying out other programs for low-income
24
people, to assist with signups; and
25
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(ii) by adding stronger provisions for
1
presumed eligibility and waiving docu-
2
mentation requirements for eligibility; and
3
(D) further Federal efforts to weatherize
4
housing for low- and moderate-income house-
5
holds, to help families struggling to pay their
6
home energy bills and to meet national clean
7
energy goals.
8
SEC. 3. FUNDING.
9
Section 2602 of the Low-Income Home Energy As-
10
sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621) is amended—
11
(1) in subsection (b)—
12
(A) by striking ‘‘section 2607A)’’ and in-
13
serting ‘‘section 2604(f), 2607A, 2607B, or
14
2607C)’’; and
15
(B) by striking ‘‘$2,000,000,000’’ and all
16
that follows and inserting ‘‘$400,000,000,000
17
for the period of fiscal years 2024 through
18
2033.’’;
19
(2) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘, or arising,
20
for purposes of section 2604(e)(2), from a major
21
disaster or emergency, as defined in section
22
2604(e)(2)(A)’’ before the period at the end; and
23
(3) by adding at the end the following:
24
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‘‘(f) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry
1
out section 2604(f), $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal
2
years 2024 through 2033.
3
‘‘(g) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry
4
out section 2607C, including making grants under that
5
section, $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024
6
through 2033.’’.
7
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
8
Section 2603 of the Low-Income Home Energy As-
9
sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8622) is amended—
10
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) through
11
(6), (7) through (10), and (11), as paragraphs (5)
12
through (7), (9) through (12), and (14), respec-
13
tively;
14
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
15
lowing:
16
‘‘(4) The term ‘HEAP coordinator’ means an
17
employee—
18
‘‘(A) who administers a program funded
19
under section 2602(b); and
20
‘‘(B) whose salary is paid, partly or wholly,
21
with funds made available under that section.’’;
22
(3) by inserting after paragraph (7), as so re-
23
designated, the following:
24
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‘‘(8) The term ‘local coordinating agency’
1
means any local organization or local office that re-
2
ceives funds under section 2602(b) to perform cus-
3
tomer intake, or approval of benefits, on behalf of
4
the State agency.’’; and
5
(4) by inserting after paragraph (12), as so re-
6
designated, the following:
7
‘‘(13) The term ‘State agency’ means any State
8
agency that administers the program funded under
9
section 2602(b).’’.
10
SEC. 5. EMERGENCIES.
11
Section 2604(e) of the Low-Income Home Energy
12
Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8623(e)) is amended—
13
(1) by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e)(1)’’;
14
and
15
(2) by adding at the end the following:
16
‘‘(2)(A) In this paragraph:
17
‘‘(i) The term ‘covered household’ means an eli-
18
gible household in an area where the President, or
19
the Secretary, as the case may be, has declared a
20
major disaster or emergency.
21
‘‘(ii) The term ‘major disaster or emergency’
22
means—
23
‘‘(I) a major disaster or emergency de-
24
clared under section 401 or 501, respectively, of
25
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•S 405 IS
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
1
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170,
2
5191); or
3
‘‘(II) a public health emergency declared
4
under section 319 of the Public Health Service
5
Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).
6
‘‘(B) Upon a declaration described in subparagraph
7
(A) for an area, the Secretary and the Administrator of
8
the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall, to the
9
extent practicable, provide heating or cooling assistance
10
to covered households in that area.
11
‘‘(C) In particular, in the event of a major disaster
12
or other emergency due to a period of extreme heat (as
13
described in section 2604(f)(1)) or cold in an area, the
14
Secretary and the Administrator shall, to the extent prac-
15
ticable, provide cooling or heating assistance to covered
16
households in that area.’’.
17
SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL COOLING ASSISTANCE FOR HEAT
18
WAVES.
19
Section 2604 of the Low-Income Home Energy As-
20
sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8623) is amended by add-
21
ing at the end the following:
22
‘‘(f)(1) In this subsection:
23
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‘‘(A) The term ‘additional cooling assistance’
1
means cooling assistance provided under this sub-
2
section.
3
‘‘(B) The term ‘extreme heat’ means heat that
4
exceeds local climatological norms in terms of any 1
5
or more of the following:
6
‘‘(i) Duration.
7
‘‘(ii) Intensity.
8
‘‘(iii) Season length.
9
‘‘(iv) Frequency.
10
‘‘(C) The term ‘heat’ means any 1 or more of
11
the parameters associated with increasing human
12
temperature, such as air temperature, humidity,
13
solar exposure, and low wind speed.
14
‘‘(D) The term ‘heat event’ means an occur-
15
rence of extreme heat that may have heat-health im-
16
plications.
17
‘‘(E) The term ‘heat-health’ means health ef-
18
fects to humans from heat, during or outside of heat
19
events, including from vulnerability and exposure, or
20
the risk of such effects.
21
‘‘(2) From funds made available under section
22
2602(f), the Secretary may provide grants to eligible enti-
23
ties, which shall be States, territories, or Indian Tribes,
24
for additional cooling assistance for heat events.
25
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‘‘(3) The Secretary shall determine an allocation plan
1
for providing eligible entities with funding through the
2
grants to help eligible households respond to heat events.
3
‘‘(4) To receive assistance under this subsection, an
4
eligible entity shall provide assurances to the Secretary
5
that—
6
‘‘(A) the eligible entity will not preclude a
7
household that receives heating assistance under this
8
title during a calendar year, on the basis of obtain-
9
ing that assistance, from receiving cooling assistance
10
under this title during that year; and
11
‘‘(B) the eligible entity will not require a house-
12
hold to indicate that a household member has a
13
medical need for cooling assistance under this title,
14
to be eligible for that assistance.
15
‘‘(5) A eligible entity that receives additional cooling
16
assistance may use the assistance for purposes for which
17
cooling assistance is available under the program funded
18
under section 2602(b), including for providing energy-effi-
19
cient air conditioners, and other equipment needed for
20
home cooling, to eligible households.’’.
21
SEC. 7. ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS.
22
Section 2605 of the Low-Income Home Energy As-
23
sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624) is amended—
24
(1) in subsection (b)(2)—
25
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(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph
1
(A), by inserting ‘‘, subject to subsection
2
(c)(1)(A),’’ after ‘‘only’’;
3
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking
4
‘‘(B)’’ and all that follows through clause (ii)
5
and inserting the following:
6
‘‘(B) households with—
7
‘‘(i) incomes which do not exceed the
8
greater of—
9
‘‘(I) an amount equal to 250 per-
10
cent of the poverty line that is defined
11
and revised as described in section
12
673 of the Community Services Block
13
Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902); or
14
‘‘(II) an amount equal to 80 per-
15
cent of the State median income; or
16
‘‘(ii) a monthly energy burden of 3
17
percent or more, as averaged across the
18
calendar year preceding the determination
19
under this paragraph,’’; and
20
(C) in the matter following subparagraph
21
(B), by inserting before the semicolon the fol-
22
lowing: ‘‘, and the State may not exclude a
23
household from eligibility on the basis of citi-
24
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•S 405 IS
zenship of 1 or more of the household mem-
1
bers’’;
2
(2) in subsection (c)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘assist-
3
ance to be provided under this title, including cri-
4
teria’’ and inserting ‘‘assistance to be provided
5
under this title, including—
6
‘‘(i) certifying that the State and local co-
7
ordinating agencies in the State—
8
‘‘(I) will allow applicants for the as-
9
sistance, to the greatest extent possible, to
10
self-attest that the applicants meet the cri-
11
teria in this title for an eligible household;
12
and
13
‘‘(II) will not require the applicants to
14
submit proof of income, citizenship, or
15
need, to establish status as an eligible
16
household; and
17
‘‘(ii) describing criteria’’;
18
(3) in subsection (f), by adding at the end the
19
following:
20
‘‘(3) For purposes of section 401(c), and the remain-
21
der of title IV, of the Personal Responsibility and Work
22
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C.
23
1611(a), 1601 et seq.) assistance under this title should
24
not be considered to be a Federal public benefit.’’; and
25
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•S 405 IS
(4) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘the State may
1
apply’’ and inserting ‘‘the State may, subject to sub-
2
section (c)(1)(A)(i), apply’’.
3
SEC. 8. CONDITIONS FOR FUNDING.
4
Section 2605 of the Low-Income Home Energy As-
5
sistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624) is amended—
6
(1) in subsection (b)—
7
(A) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting be-
8
fore the semicolon the following: ‘‘, using toxin-
9
free materials that do not contain asthmagens
10
or respiratory sensitizers, giving priority in the
11
use of those funds, to the greatest extent prac-
12
ticable, to supporting emergency home repairs
13
that foster energy efficiency, decarbonization,
14
and climate resilience, including through bene-
15
ficial electrification of heating and cooling’’;
16
(B) in paragraph (7)—
17
(i) in subparagraph (C), by striking
18
‘‘and’’ at the end; and
19
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
20
lowing:
21
‘‘(E) ensure that—
22
‘‘(i) the home energy supplier will not
23
charge late fees for any payment, by a
24
household receiving assistance through the
25
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program funde
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]