Representative Markey receives his award from NEADA Executive Director Mark Wolfe. (image: markey.house.gov)

On Tuesday, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) received an award for his continued support of government heating assistance through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Belmont Citizen-Herald reported. Markey’s award came from the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA), a private organization that bills itself as “the primary educational and policy organization for the state and tribal directors of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).”

As the representative for a heating oil-dependent and populous cold-weather state, Markey has long been a champion of LIHEAP. Most recently, he sponsored the Energy Assistance for American Families Act, which would increase LIHEAP funding from 2011 to 2014 and expand the program to make more Americans eligible to receive help with their heating costs. The bill has not yet been brought to a vote in either house of Congress. Speaking at an award ceremony in Washington, D.C., Markey stressed the widespread need for heating assistance in the Northeast this season:

New England was the site of the perfect storm off our coast, the winds rising as the barometer dropped and temperatures plunged. This winter, rising heating oil prices, an economic downturn, and plunging temperatures have created an economic perfect storm onshore for millions of New England families.

This year is the third in a row in which requests for LIHEAP assistance set a new all-time high. In addition to introducing the assistance bill, Markey announced a four-part plan to continue expanding LIHEAP: requesting the release of $100 million in remaining emergency funds by President Obama this heating season, pressing Congress to pass a supplemental appropriation to ensure all those who need it get assistance this year, advocating an immediate increase in LIHEAP funding for next winter, and passing the Energy Assistance for American Families Act.

In his remarks, Markey gave special attention to the plight of heating oil users, indicating that he is well acquainted with the unpredictability of heating oil prices and the toll it can take on Americans. Although the troubled economy could prevent the significant increases in LIHEAP funding that Markey is pushing for from passing, his efforts will keep the issue of heating assistance in the minds of his fellow legislators.

Heating oil users who struggle to pay their bills can take comfort in knowing that they have a tireless advocate in Congressman Markey.

Congressman Ed Markey has introduced legislation to expand assistance to families who need help paying their energy bills. (image: katynally.wordpress.com)

GateHouse News Service reported on Tuesday that US Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced legislation to increase federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides energy assistance to needy families, by more than 30 percent.

Markey explained in a statement that he introduced the Energy Assistance for American Families Act in response to difficult economic times, falling temperatures, and rising prices for heating oil and other heating fuels, which combined to increase demand for heating assistance this winter. “Expanding LIHEAP’s funding and availability is absolutely vital,” Markey stated.

Markey’s bill would increase total annual LIHEAP funding from $5.1 billion to $7.6 billion from fiscal years 2011 to 2014. The FY 2011 start date means that, if the bill is passed, additional funds won’t be available until next heating season (fiscal year 2011 runs from October 2010 to September 2011). The legislation represents the possibility of a substantial medium-term increase in LIHEAP funding, following a short-term request for additional emergency funds put forth by six New England senators in early January of this year. President Obama responded to the request by releasing emergency funds two weeks later.

If the Energy Assistance for American Families Act becomes law, it would provide much-needed extra cushioning for LIHEAP next year, after a projected 20 percent increase in demand for heating assistance this winter. The big funding boost would allow LIHEAP to provide help to more Americans in need and increase assistance levels to many recipients.

Heating oil users in the Northeast would see increased chances of getting all of the assistance that they need next year and beyond.

(image: washingtonindependent.com)

The biggest obstacles to the most important legislative issues of our day? Political maneuvering, says David Roberts at Grist.com.

Roberts writes that in the House, the climate bill’s legislative process was orderly and progressed smoothly through committees en route to final approval. Henry Waxman and Edward Markey introduced their bill in a special committee and made some necessary concessions, but never lost control of the process. Their goal was to negotiate the bulk of the issues behind closed doors so that when the resulting bill was brought up on the floor, it could pass uneventfully. And that’s what happened.

Unfortunately, the Senate has a different playbook. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairman of the Energy & Public Works (EPW) Committee, wanted to replicate the House’s orderly process with the Senate version, the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. She tried, says Roberts, repeatedly expressing her desire to work with others and welcoming feedback and an open dialogue. But it’s not working because politics is getting in the way. Boxer is not particularly popular, partly because of her very liberal stances. Various Democratic committee members within the Senate began marking up the Boxer bill, and two Republicans, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and George Voinovich of Ohio, called for stalling committee debate on the bill.

This prompted a boycott of the EPW committee vote by all Republican members that led to a bill passed out of committee without any GOP involvement.

According to the Associated Press, Boxer said that advancing the bill is a necessary step on the road to garnering the needed 60 votes, and she was pleased that despite the Republican boycott, the Democrats have had the will to move this bill forward.

But Boxer’s influence is waning, says Roberts. Between the Senate Democrats’ predilection for not going along with all Democratic initiatives—as opposed to the strong party discipline found in the House—and the fact that an extremely liberal and combative female Senator was shepherding the bill, it is bound to fail.

As a result, some of the Senate’s centrists came in to open a “dual track” of negotiations. John Kerry (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) rebuked their colleagues on the EPW Committee for not participating. But on the other hand, Graham also asked EPA Chief Lisa Jackson for more time – five more weeks of study, which an EPA official testifying to the EPW said would be expensive, time-consuming, and unnecessary.

In their need to purge the bill of anything Boxer-ish, Kerry and Graham felt they had to draft another one. The final bill will, like most important legislature in Washington, be hashed out in the White House, behind closed doors.

Despite winning committee passage for her bill, Boxer’s attempts to build some bipartisan support have failed, whether fairly or not. According to Roberts, in the Senate it’s every man (or woman) for himself.

Passage of a climate bill in the near future? Don’t hold your breath.