Information about the vote from special interest groups and other information providers in our Report Cards:
League of Conservation Voters
Low-Income Energy Assistance.
Over the coming winter, residential customers are expected to pay 43 percent more for natural gas
than they did the previous winter. This will be a particular blow for low-income families as they
struggle to balance their energy needs with food, shelter and other basic concerns. During consideration of S. Con. Res. 83, the Senate budget resolution, the Senate approved
an amendment by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to restore $1 billion in energy assistance
that had been removed by Senate leadership. In addition to easing the burden of fuel costs, these
funds will help low-income families insulate and weatherize their homes, making them less vulnerable in the future to high energy prices. The House voted to suspend the rules and pass the Snowe amendment.NAACP
INCREASED FUNDING FOR LOW INCOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE.
S. 2320 / LIHEAP Funding Act / Final passage
Final passage of legislation to shift $1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2006, so that it would
be immediately available. The bill was passed.National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
LIHEAP/Passage.
LIHEAP (Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program)legislation would shift funds from FY 2007 to FY 2006, providing $500 million for distribution to eligible low-income
households for heating and cooling assistance. Another $500 million would be placed in an emergency contingency fund for
the same purpose.Children's Defense Fund Action Council
Helping Low-Income Families Afford High Heating Costs, S. 2320.
Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) made a motion to suspend the rules and pass a bill to shift $1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) from the 2007 federal budget to the 2006 federal budget to help poor families pay high winter heating bills. This was a vote to help roughly five million poor households pay winter heating bills. In 2006 the largest one-year jump in home heating prices in three decades resulted in vulnerable families needing additional assistance to keep their homes warm and avoid having to choose between heating their homes, paying rent, having enough food and meeting other basic needs.