DeFazio airs plea for aid to pay bills.

Byline: SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio made another appeal to the Bush administration Friday to help elderly, disabled and low-income residents pay their heating bills this winter.

A critical need for federal energy aid exists in the Northwest because of steep electricity and natural gas rate increases this past year, the region's high unemployment rate and a cool, wet winter, DeFazio said.

DeFazio, D-Ore., called on Mitch Daniels, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families in the Department of Health and Human Services, to release $600 million in federal emergency funds for LIHEAP, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

The money is distributed to states and passed on to counties to help qualified utility customers pay their bills and keep the heat and lights on.

DeFazio said local agencies that distribute funds will be out of money by the end of January and "will be fortunate" if they have enough to help just the elderly and permanently disabled.

In Lane County, about 4,200 senior and disabled households have been helped thanks to a little more than $1 million in federal low-income funds released earlier for this winter. But 700 disabled, 1,200 senior and 2,300 other families are still waiting for LIHEAP assistance.

"The administration mantra appears to be that energy prices are lower, supplies are higher and weather forecasts are mild," and so the money doesn't need to be released, DeFazio said in a letter to Daniels and Horn.

"As I've pointed out in writing on three prior occasions, that analysis does not hold up in the Northwest," he wrote.

Electricity rates have risen 15 percent, 30 percent or more, DeFazio noted, and natural gas prices have increased 20 percent.

Congress provided $300 million in LIHEAP emergency funds last July and another $300 million in the Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill for this year. The administration has yet to release any of this money.

DeFazio underscored Oregon's unemployment rate, the highest in the nation, as one of the main reasons the state needs low-income energy assistance. The demand for LIHEAP in the state has increased 82 percent since last year, he said. Only 88,547 of the 327,080 Oregonians eligible for assistance in 2000-01 received the help. "It is nonsensical for the administration to argue that the emergency funds don't need to be released when 25 percent or fewer eligible Oregonians can receive assistance at current funding levels," DeFazio said. To qualify for LIHEAP, a household's total gross income must be at or below 60 percent of Oregon's median income level. For a one-person household, gross monthly income must be $1,402 or less. For a household of four, the monthly income must be $2,695 or less.

The amount of assistance a household receives depends on several other factors. One-time payments of $125 to $320 are made directly into the household's utility account.

For more information, in English or Spanish, about eligibility and appointments, call 682-3835.