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FFY 2026 LIHEAP State Plan Public Hearing Wednesday, September 24, 2025 Louisiana Housing Corporation Board Room, 2415 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA
The meeting was called to order @ 10:03 am by Mitchel Chauvin, Housing Finance Manager for the Louisiana LIHEAP Program. (Attendees on separate page) Mitchel Chauvin: “Good morning everyone, I’m calling this Hearing to order at 10:03 A.M. Thank you for joining us for the Federal Fiscal Year 2026 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Model Plan Public Hearing for the State of Louisiana. My name is Mitchel Chauvin, and I am the Housing Finance Manager for the Louisiana LIHEAP and Weatherization programs. The Proposed 2026 Louisiana LIHEAP Model Plan was posted to the Louisiana Housing Corporation’s website on September 10, 2025 for public review and response. Louisiana’s LIHEAP program consists of a Heating Assistance program that runs November 15 to March 15, a Cooling Assistance program that runs April 1 to September 30 or until funds are expended, a year round Crisis Assistance program, and a Weatherization Assistance program that runs July 1 to June 30. No changes have been proposed to these time frames. The allocations of funding are as follows: • Heating Assistance
25.00% • Cooling Assistance
45.50% • Crisis Assistance
10.00% • Weatherization Assistance
7.00% • Administrative Expenses
10.00% • Assurance 16 (Client Education)
2.50%
All changes from last year’s plan to this year’s plan were posted in a document along with the proposed plan. The majority of changes were required administrative updates or points of clarification. Louisiana is proposing to implement an online application with each Subgrantee this year in lieu of the previously proposed State run statewide application. The other major significant change is reverting back to a Social Security Card requirement for all household members rather than just providing the number. This revised requirement is in response to Louisiana Act No. 351 signed on June 20, 2025. As of this hearing, we have not received any comments in writing. At this time, we will open the hearing to any comments or feedback from the audience.