Barragán Briefs: Rep., Colleagues Urge Expansion of HCBA Waiver and Tell DOE To Consider Public Interest For LNG Licenses

Barragán, Colleagues Urge Governor to Expand HCBA Waiver

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Nanette Barragán (CA-44) Nov. 14 led 22 members of the California Congressional Delegation in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom to recommend the expansion of the Home-and Community-Based Alternatives or HCBA waiver. 

The HCBA Waiver allows Californians to use federal, Medicaid-funded home and community-based services or HCBS as an alternative to nursing homes and other institutional care facilities. The program serves children, adults, and older Americans with disabilities who qualify for an institutional level of care, and who need home and community-based services to continue to live at home.

In 2021, Rep. Barragán led members of the California Congressional Delegation in a letter to the California Department of Health Care Services or DHCS urging the state to increase the number of people served by the HCBA Waiver. DHCS responded by increasing the number of waiver slots in 2021. However, current waiver capacity is not sufficient to meet the growing demand of the program. Currently, the HCBA Waiver is capped at 8,974 slots and as of October 2023, the Waiver is full, with more than 3,000 people on the waiting list.

This letter recommends California allocate funding for an increase in the number of HCBA Waiver slots sufficient to clear the current waiting list, with the ability to raise the cap as needed to meet demand for this program. California can do this in the same way that it operates two other HCBS Waivers that do not have functional caps.

Details: https://tinyurl.com/HCB-Alternatives-Waiver 

New Liquified Fossil Gas Licenses Not in the Public’s Interest 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, and Representatives Jared Huffman (CA-02) and Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), along with over 60 of their colleagues, Nov. 14 sent a bicameral letter to the U.S. Department of Energy or DOE urging the agency to update how it determines if new licenses for liquified natural gas or LNG exports to non-free, U.S. trade countries are in the public interest. The letter highlights concerns that DOE’s current approach to making these determinations does not fully or accurately consider how these exports impact the climate, environmental justice, or domestic energy prices. 

The letter highlights that DOE has never rejected an LNG export application on the basis of negative impacts to the American people, and urges meaningful consideration of the costs to the climate and consumers when reviewing new export licenses.  

“U.S. LNG exports have doubled over the past four years, and projects currently under development are set to almost double exports again. DOE’s case-by-case approach to approvals ignores the aggregate impact that the explosive growth in U.S. LNG exports is having on climate, communities, and our economy,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The lawmakers’ letter comes as DOE is approving LNG exports — and, as the lawmakers note, “scientific reports, including a recent peer reviewed study from Brown University and RMI, have found that natural gas can be as bad for the climate as coal, when only small methane leaks are factored in.”

The lawmakers strongly encourage DOE to develop an approach that is informed by the latest climate and economic analysis, and which is transparent and open for public comment. “By exacerbating climate change, LNG exports also pose a threat to environmental justice at home and abroad, because the impacts of climate change fall most heavily on low-income communities and communities of color,” wrote the lawmakers. 

With the Department’s anticipated decision on the CP2 export application, a proposal to create one of the largest LNG terminals ever, the stakes could not be higher. 

“No public interest determination will be viewed as credible unless the perspectives of the public are heard, understood, and reflected in DOE’s decision on CP2 and across the board,” the letter concludes. 

Details: Full text of the letter can be found here