State gets $11.5M in fed funds for low-income heating assist

BOSTON – Massachusetts will get $11.5 million in federal fuel assistance for low-income residents due to the release Wednesday of emergency contingency funds by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”This is a step in the right direction to help low-income seniors, families and individuals stay safe and warm in their homes this winter,” said Gov. Deval Patrick, referring to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds.U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney, a Salem Democrat, hailed the long-awaited announcement that President Bush, after much urging, has agreed to release the remaining $120.7 million in LIHEAP funds appropriated for fiscal 2008 and as yet unspent.Massachusetts received the second-highest amount of LIHEAP funds in the country.Patrick said he recently spoke with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to stress the urgency for fuel-assistance among the state’s low-income families concerned about how to pay the upcoming winter heat bills.Last year, Massachusetts received $115 million in LIHEAP funds in addition to $15 million in state funding to help to assist approximately 141,000 low-income state residents heat their homes over the winter.Nationwide, LIHEAP assists more than 4.6 million low-income Americans in paying their heating bills.LIHEAP provides fuel assistance to low-income people with annual incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $42,400 for a family of four.”The release of these funds comes not a moment too soon. Our residents and the social services that support them have been rightfully expressing concern about necessary heating assistance in the upcoming winter months,” said Tierney.In July, Gov. Patrick, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and Senate President Therese Murray launched a joint task force to address winter energy costs. The task force held public hearings in Springfield, Fall River, Haverhill, Worcester and Boston.State Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, the task force chairman, is scheduled to submit at the end of September an action plan to help citizens cope with the high cost of energy expected this winter. The recommendations will likely include a review of emergency service programs, as well as available programs to reduce home energy use through weatherization and efficiency improvements. Other areas of energy cost savings could include incentives for carpooling and use of public transportation.According to Patrick, the task force will also explore ways to mobilize community, volunteer and philanthropic resources to address service needs.Following a meeting of the New England Governors Conference hosted by Patrick over the summer, all six New England governors signed a letter calling on the federal government to increase LIHEAP funds for the New England region. The New England governors held a summit this week in Bar Harbor, Maine, and put forth a resolution urging Congress to fully fund LIHEAP for 2008 with an additional $2.5 billion.Tierney and other members of Congress this summer requested $9 billion in funds for LIHEAP for fiscal 2008. He also signed a letter to House leaders requesting that significant additional funds for LIHEAP be considered in either a second economic stimulus package or stand-alone legislation.Of the more than 8.5 million American households that use home heating oil, 2.5 million of them – nearly 30 percent – are located in the six New England states,” said Tierney, adding that home heating oil prices in the region this winter are expected to rise by an average of nearly $2 a gallon over last year, leaving many families unable to heat their homes.