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Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Madam President, today I am introducing the Weatherization Assistance Program Improvements Act, along with Senators Collins, Coons, and Shaheen. Our bipartisan bill will make critical updates to ensure this important program can effectively serve even more households across the country.

Since 1976, the Weatherization Assistance Program has helped more than 7.4 million low-income households reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. The Department of Energy estimates that these upgrades help each household save $372 in energy bills annually. Those energy savings free up limited financial resources for essentials, like groceries and medicine.

In addition to traditional services like attic and wall insulation, the program also provides services that help with home health and safety measures, such as installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Energy efficient homes also help cut down on our carbon footprint, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

An independent study of the Weatherization Assistance Program by Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that children in weatherized households miss less school, improving educational outcomes. Adults miss less work, increasing both their own incomes and their contributions to the economy. Families also reported experiencing fewer flu and cold symptoms and emergency room visits, decreasing costly medical expenses.

The Weatherization Assistance Program also helps boost our economy. The program supports over 8,500 jobs for energy experts and contractors, while increasing our national economic output by $1.2 billion.

The program is a win-win for all involved. That is why, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have led my colleagues in supporting strong funding for it every year. And that is why I am introducing this bill--to ensure it continues to work for years to come.

This bill will help expand the program to many more low-income households that are currently unable to receive weatherization services because their homes need minor structural repairs before then can be weatherized. The bill will authorize a Weatherization Readiness Fund to repair structural issues and prepare homes for weatherization assistance, increasing the number of homes the program is able to serve.

At the same time, it will raise the amount of funding allowed to be spent on each home to keep up with current labor and material costs, and it will raise the cap on the amount of funding allowed to be spent on renewable energy upgrades in each home. These provisions are essential updates to a program that has helped so many families over the past few decades.

I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this commonsense legislation.

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