SEATTLE…Yesterday’s approval by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission for Avista to increase natural gas rates by nearly 24 percent has prompted Sen. Bob Morton to emphasize the need for the state to take immediate action to cap home heating taxes and help low-income residents pay their heating bills.

Morton, R-Orient, said a one-day special session should accomplish this.

“Many people don’t know this, but as the price of home heating products increase, so do the taxes you pay for them,” Morton said. “Increased home heating prices are already a heavy burden on average families. The government should not be profiting from this hardship.”

Senate Republicans released a plan last month to cap the public utility taxes on natural gas and electric bills, and cap or freeze the sales and use taxes consumers pay on home heating oil and propane. The plan also increases funding for the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

According to the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, the agency that runs LIHEAP, the program in 2004 could only provide assistance to roughly 20 percent of the state’s eligible population.

“With home heating rates increasing dramatically in 2005, getting LIHEAP funding if you need it will be as likely as winning the lottery if we don’t increase funding for the program,” Morton emphasized. “The average household might be able to find a way to get through the winter, although difficultly, but low-income people need our help now.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says heating-bill increases are felt more acutely by the poor. In 2002, the average household spent 5.9 percent of its income on heating compared to 12.6 percent by low-income households.

For more information contact Tami Davis, (360) 786-7519 or Davis.Tami@leg.wa.gov