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Weatherization Stimulus
STATE FUNDING:
We have prepared an estimated funding
distribution for states at the final
funding level. It's a guess, not a
promise. See the table at our new
Stimulus Act web page.
Two Program changes
NCAF has been advocating are included in
the Bill to provide needed flexibility.
These affect all WAP funds, not only the
stimulus:
1. The statewide average ceiling is
raised to $6500 from $3100. This allows
the future homes to receive all the
measures that were previously covered by
DOE plus LIHEAP or utility funds, AND it
allows you to pay better wages
(Important selling point to the Obama
administration which supported the
change.)
2. Up to 20% of funds may be used for T
&TA; the DOE typically takes 1.5% for
federal T & TA, so that means states may
have up to 18.5% of funds...
In addition,
3. More households will be eligible in
29 states DC and the territories because
the eligibility ceiling is raised to the
higher of 200% of FPG or the LIHEAP
ceiling of 60% State median income.
200$% poverty is also the new FLOOR.
Every applicant at or below that level
of income cannot be ineligible on the
basis of income. (This was not a
priority issue for us...)
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
New federal guidance is being prepared.
We believe DOE will make funds available
to states by March 15 and allow spending
on the activities included in their
latest approved plan at as high a rate
as they choose. Many states have
submitted a new, conventional but
expanded plan for 2009; others with July
start dates will use their current PY
2008 plan.
New Plans:
Before states can spend on additional
activities or delivery agencies (if any)
their new plan would have to go through
the public hearing process and be
approved by DOE. NCAF has asked DOE to
require states to solicit plans from
their current providers showing how the
challenges of this growth will be met.
We are separately preparing material for
CAAs and other local Weatherizers that
explain the statutory preference to
using existing proven providers and the
preference to CAAs when selecting new
providers.
When does it have to be spent?
The Bill says September 30 2010. As
noted in our 2/12 Quick FACTS.
WHAT CAN (and MUST) WEATHERIZATION LOCAL
AGENCIES DO NOW TO PREPARE?
Today:
Executive Directors, meet your energy/WAP
program coordinators to review the final
figures and the 2-year growth rate .and
scope out the challenges to the agency
as a whole and the program in
particular; remember - most of them do
not see CAP FACTS! However, most of the
tasks listed here fall on the
Weatherization leaders.
Take the lead in preparing a
collaborative state plan for the larger
program. If a statewide process is not
already underway, set one up today to
begin next week.
Next week.
Make that-locally initiated planning
process work! (see below for sources of
tools)
Arrange for a statewide call center and
800 numbers to take and route the
inquiries from potential recipients and
from job applicants. Press will be
picking up this story soon.
Have your WAP team get their suppliers'
prices in writing for the WAP materials
they use all the time as well as for
heating systems and appliances. Don't
say why. Do the same with light truck
dealers.
Have your Weatherization team get and
preserve the following baseline
statistics so that we can later report
on the effects of your agency's delivery
of the Recovery Act resources.
(Otherwise, we are likely to have to
comply with some federal mandate to get
the following retrospectively!):
-
Your employees- including intake and
fiscal - covered by all funds for
weatherization- expressed as Number
of people and number of FTE's
-
Your contractors' employees
expressed the same way.
-
The number of workers who received
any formal training funded by the
program in the past 12
months(conference/workshops/
training courses/onsite trainers
other than supervisors)
Bottom line:
if our present -day network does not
take control of the process, neither
states not feds have the capacity today
to get the job done as President Obama
expects.
TOOLS:
NCAF has been organizing brainstorming
sessions on WAP growth; in January, at
our request, DOE organized a
representative small group to hash out
solutions to growth challenges. These
meetings gave NCAF assignments regarding
legislative changes needed (of which
some, but not all, are achieved); it
gave the federal and state offices a
substantial 'to-do' list;
We have continued collecting ideas and
experience. (That process has produced
the to-do list above, from others who
have experience fast growth periods.).
We are going to post and continually
update a matrix of problems and
solutions on the website to help your
planning. We will be collecting tools,
templates and progress reports to share
at our new stimulus web page, so keep
checking back.
WEATHERIZATION GROWTH IN PERSPECTIVE:
This legislation is a dramatic gesture
of confidence, initiated by President
Obama, in our ability to rise to the
occasion and put Americans back to work
in green jobs. This moment, which also
brings increases in CAAs' core programs,
offers Community Action and its
Weatherization partners a chance to
cement our role in the 21st Century
fight against the new poverty and in
favor of an economy that works for all.
While the $5 billion represents and
11-fold increase over DOE WAP at the PY
2007 level, most states have more
resources than just DOE funds in their
programs. All funds coordinated by the
Weatherization system have generally
been $750-$780 million per year. That
means the Stimulus Bill PLUS $400
million a year in regular appropriations
will produce a 2-year program that is
3.6 times larger than in the past. Of
course, the growth varies among states;
it is most dramatic in the deep South.
The President will expect about 810,000
homes to be weatherized by the end of
the Recovery Act period. How the
targets will be assigned, if at all, is
very uncertain.
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