A stopgap bill passed the House 370 to 48, and LIHEAP funding for 2027 is still not decided

LIHEAP funding 2027 is still not decided

Whether LIHEAP will be cut in 2027 is still not decided, months after President Trump proposed eliminating its funding entirely. LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, pays part of a low income household heating and cooling bill. About 6 million low income households rely on it, and the fiscal year 2027 budget proposal would end federal funding for all of them. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, representing every state LIHEAP office, responded that same day.

I am deeply disappointed that the Administration is proposing to eliminate LIHEAP funding.

Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Source 1.

Testimony Wolfe gave to a House Appropriations subcommittee 2 weeks later puts the current LIHEAP funding level at 4.1 billion dollars, calls that not enough, and asks Congress for 7 billion dollars for fiscal year 2027 instead, 6 billion dollars in base funding plus 1 billion dollars for extreme weather and price spikes. The same testimony states the war in Iran had already pushed heating oil costs up more than 1 dollar a gallon by April, adding roughly 600 dollars a year for households that heat with oil, part of why heating costs overall were projected to rise 11.0% this year.

NEADA asked for emergency money in July as oil prices spiked

By July, oil prices had climbed further and NEADA escalated its request again. On July 23, 2026, the association urged Congress to add a 3 billion dollar anomaly to the fiscal year 2027 continuing resolution, as crude oil reached about 100 dollars a barrel, up from about 72 dollars before the conflict in the Middle East. It projects average household heating oil bills near 1,700 dollars this winter, up from about 1,100 dollars last winter, if oil stays near 100 dollars a barrel, and says national residential electricity prices rose approximately 7.6% between January and April 2026, after a 13% rise between 2023 and 2025.

Energy markets have changed dramatically in just a few weeks. Unless markets stabilize, millions of households that heat with oil will face substantially higher heating bills this winter.

Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Source 3.

The House Appropriations Committee approved its own bill without naming a LIHEAP figure

The House Appropriations Committee voted 34 to 28 on June 9, 2026 to approve its fiscal year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Act, setting a total discretionary allocation of 189.3 billion dollars, 3% below the fiscal year 2026 enacted level. The bill and its report do include a line item titled Low Income Home Energy Assistance, on bill page 84 and report page 199, but neither states a dollar figure for it that this site could confirm, so the amount set for LIHEAP is not yet public.

A stopgap bill passed, and LIHEAP funding 2027 remained undecided

On September 1, 2026, the House passed H.R. 6500, the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2027, 370 to 48, a stopgap that funded the government past the October 1 start of fiscal year 2027 while the full year Labor, Health and Human Services bill, the one carrying LIHEAP, is still being negotiated. The committee announcement of that vote does not mention LIHEAP, low income energy assistance, or the funding request NEADA made in July, anywhere. The stopgap bought time. It did not decide whether LIHEAP exists for 2027.

Today's vote is the culmination of House Republicans moving proactively, decisively, and strategically earlier this summer.

Tom Cole, Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations. Source 5.

What is at stake for millions of households

The stakes are already large, before any 2027 decision is made. The same testimony cites Energy Information Administration data showing 13.4 million electricity disconnections and 1.7 million natural gas disconnections nationally in 2024. State totals that year varied widely, from under 70,000 electric disconnections in Connecticut to above 450,000 each in Alabama, California and Georgia. Total utility arrearages, the unpaid balances customers owe, stand above 25 billion dollars, the highest level since 2021.