I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 551 
To amend the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to provide 
for supplemental assistance for COVID–19 relief, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2021 
Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. WELCH, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, 
Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. JONES, Mr. BRENDAN 
F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. NORTON, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. SEWELL, 
Mr. TONKO, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. KEATING, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. 
MATSUI, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act 
of 1981 to provide for supplemental assistance for 
COVID–19 relief, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Debt Relief 
for American Families Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ENERGY DEBT RELIEF FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES 
PROGRAM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 2602 of the Low-In-
come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 
8621) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) There is authorized to be appropriated for pay-
ments under this title, in addition to amounts appro-
priated for distribution to all the States in accordance with 
section 
2604 
or 
to 
carry 
out 
section 
2607A, 
$10,000,000,000 for allocation to States under section 
2607C.’’. 
(b) SUPPLEMENTAL ALLOTMENTS FOR COVID–19 
RELIEF.—The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act 
of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 2607B the following: 
‘‘SEC. 2607C. SUPPLEMENTAL ALLOTMENTS FOR COVID–19 
RELIEF. 
‘‘(a) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may 
allocate amounts appropriated under section 2602(f) to 
provide supplementary funds to States to assist eligible 
households in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(b) FORMULA FOR DISTRIBUTION.—Distribution of 
amounts made available under this section shall be based 
on a formula developed by the Secretary that provides 
funding to States based on— 
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‘‘(1) the amount allotted to the State under this 
title, other than section 2607A, in fiscal year 2021; 
and 
‘‘(2) the average unemployment rate in the 
State from January 31, 2020, through December 
31, 2020. 
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE.—A State may use funds allo-
cated to the State under this section to help eligible 
households in the State maintain home energy or 
electricity service, by providing to such households, 
in accordance with the plan submitted by the State 
under paragraph (2), 100 percent of the amount of 
any utility bill incurred during the COVID–19 pan-
demic that is in arrears. 
‘‘(2) PLAN
FOR
DISBURSEMENT.—Not later 
than 60 days after the date of enactment of this sec-
tion, each State shall submit to the Secretary a plan 
for providing assistance under paragraph (1) that 
prioritizes the restoration of terminated service and 
the prevention of service terminations, taking into 
consideration the total amount of debt in arrears of 
eligible households and any other factors that the 
State finds relevant. 
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‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE
EXPENSES.—A State 
may use not more than 15 percent of funds allocated 
to the State under this section for administrative ex-
penses related to providing assistance under para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘eligi-
ble household’ means a household with a utility bill 
incurred during the COVID–19 pandemic that cer-
tifies to the State (including through proof of job 
loss of a member of the household, such as a layoff 
or furlough notice or verification of application for 
unemployment benefits) that it cannot pay such util-
ity bill because of economic distress caused by the 
COVID–19 pandemic. 
‘‘(2) UTILITY
BILL.—The term ‘utility bill’ 
means a bill charged to a household for home energy 
or electricity service. 
‘‘(3) UTILITY
BILL
INCURRED
DURING
THE 
COVID–19 PANDEMIC.—The term ‘utility bill incurred 
during the COVID–19 pandemic’ means a utility bill 
for service provided during the period during which 
the public health emergency declared by the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services under section 
319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
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247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 
COVID–19 (or any renewal of that declaration), is 
in effect. 
‘‘(e) TERMINATION.— 
‘‘(1) DATE.—The authority of the Secretary to 
allocate funds under this section, and the authority 
of a State to use such funds under subsection (c), 
shall expire on the date that is 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this section. 
‘‘(2) REMAINING FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) UNALLOCATED
FUNDS.—The Sec-
retary may not allocate or otherwise use any 
funds appropriated under section 2602(f) that 
have not been allocated under this section by 
the date described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) UNUSED FUNDS.—A State to which 
funds have been allocated under this section 
shall use any such funds, which have not been 
used under subsection (c) by the date described 
in paragraph (1), in the same manner as 
amounts allotted to the State under section 
2604.’’. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
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Human Services shall submit to Congress a report describ-
ing— 
(1) the number of households in each State that 
received assistance under subsection (c)(1) of section 
2607C of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 
Act of 1981, and demographic information for such 
households, to the extent such information is avail-
able; 
(2) the total amount of assistance provided to 
households in each State under such subsection 
(c)(1); 
(3) the total amount of funds used by States 
under subsection (c)(3) of such section 2607C; and 
(4) any other information relating to the imple-
mentation and effectiveness of such section, as de-
termined appropriate by the Secretary. 
Æ 
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