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On December 18, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) made a staggering statement, announcing that nearly 24,000 Long Island Households that rely on the Home Energy Assistance Program could lose heating assistance next month unless the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services releases additional funds for the program. On the 19th, however, Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced that he is releasing $598 million to help states cover the HEAP costs.
Schumer, along with a bipartisan group of 34 other senators, began pushing the administration for the immediate release of HEAP funds in a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services dated December 17. If additional funding had not been released, New York would have joined 16 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, that have also lost the HEAP program due to the lack of federal funding. "It's almost Christmas and the federal government is playing Scrooge with its promise to help senior citizens and working families pay their heating bills," said Schumer prior to the released funding. "But at least Scrooge would leave families with a lump of coal they could throw in the furnace - the government isn't even doing that. All we're asking for is for the federal government to help families as much as they did last year. Instead, they have literally chosen to leave seniors and families out in the cold." According to statistics provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 751,937 New York households currently utilize the HEAP program to help them pay for heat with about 17,363 of those households located in Suffolk County.
The HEAP program provides two basic services. People who are eligible for the program can receive financial assistance to offset the costs of the heating and/or cooling of their homes. Since October 1, a total of 2,205 applications for HEAP have been processed in Suffolk County, which is a 175% increase from the 803 applications processed at the same time last year. In the letter sent to Thompson on the 17th, Schumer and the 34 additional senators urged him to release additional funds to states. In the context of the letter, the senators stated, "[HEAP] provides a vital safety net for our nation's low-income households. For many low-income families, disabled individuals and senior citizens living on fixed incomes, energy costs are unaffordable ... the release of additional [HEAP] funding ... will ensure that states have resources available to support their energy assistance programs in December and January."
"New York should receive about $46 million of the released money," stated Stu Loeser, press secretary to Schumer. "That's definitely an approximation, due to the fact that other states will be receiving the released money as well, but we expect about that amount." "Frankly, it's not too common to see Democrats and Republicans working together to try to get the administration to change their energy policy," said Schumer. "But ... we showed when we come together in common cause, it works. It should never have come to this, but what matters is that at the end of the day, New Yorkers will get the heating aid they need and deserve."
For more information on the HEAP program, visit the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance at www.otda.state.ny.us.
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