Included in the massive federal workforce cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services this week was the elimination of an office that runs a program over 100,000 Missouri families rely on to help pay their heating and cooling bills.
The layoffs within the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides Congressionally-approved funds that are administered by Missouri’s social services department, leaves the program’s future in limbo.
LIHEAP is designed to help those with few resources cover their home energy bills in the summer and winter. Since October, the program has helped offset utility costs for 100,839 households, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Social Services.
The state received over $136.4 million for the program in fiscal year 2023, and the average benefit for the heating and cooling program was around $675 per household.
The Department of Social Services has “not received any official updates regarding potential program reductions,” said spokesperson Baylee Watts, and the federal government hasn’t announced program cuts. But advocates fear that without the federal staff, the future allocation of funding is uncertain.
“Any cuts to LIHEAP will be detrimental to Missourians who are already struggling to keep up with increasing electric and gas bills,” said Sandra Padgett, executive director of Consumers Council of Missouri, in a press release.
States are still waiting for around 10% of their annual funding allocation for the federal fiscal year that began in October. That amount usually arrives in June. Watts said Missouri hasn’t been notified yet of what that amount is, but it was $8.1 million last year.
Those funds aren’t expected to be needed until the fiscal year that starts in October, though, Watts said, based on the way Missouri has allocated funding.
“At this moment, DSS does not anticipate any impact on services,” Watts said.
At the same time, a bill adding a charge onto utility bills passed the state legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
