Issue Brief 12-02
January 26, 2012
 Summary 


On January 19, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) released more than $863 million in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) block grant funds. In the first quarter of federal fiscal year (FY) 2012, states received $2.6 billion in funds. With this release, states have received their entire allocation of $3.472 billion for FY 2012.

Overall, states experienced a -23% reduction in funding for the LIHEAP block grant in FY 2012. The impact of the reduction on individual states varies because Congress modified the formula to distribute all but $497 million on the basis of FY 1984 state shares (the old LIHEAP formula). Moreover, the final FY 2012 budget did not provide emergency contingency funds, which totaled $200 million in FY 2011.

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