Fuel Funding Assistance Defeated
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6-As temperatures drop and the price of heating oil rises in New England, the Senate, late Wednesday night, rejected a measure that would have more than doubled federal fuel assistance funds for low-income people.
The measure, an amendment that would have increased funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to $5.1 billion, was thrown out when a procedural move prevented the measure from being voted on.
“The Republican leadership has sent a terrible message to Americans, because tonight politics was placed ahead of helping families,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who sponsored the amendment, said in a press release.
The energy bill that President Bush signed in August authorized up to $5.1 billion for the assistance program, but the Senate currently plans to spend only $2.183 billion, an increase of $1 million from last year.
“Congress needs to stand up for the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, in a statement to the Standard-Times.
Last year, more than 9,000 households in the New Bedford area received federally funded heating assistance, and an additional 400 or 500 are waiting to apply for the coming winter, said Bruce Morell, executive director of People Acting in Community Endeavor, a local community assistance agency.
“We either need to have lower energy prices or higher funding for these programs if we’re truly going to help these people make it through the winter,” Morell said.
The average cost for a gallon of heating oil in Massachusetts is currently $2.57, an increase of 33 percent over last year’s price, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
The maximum benefit available last year was approximately $750 per household and included emergency funds beyond the original budget, said Morell. This year, he expects the assistance to top out at around $625.
“The scary part about this year is that . the maximum benefit level won’t even buy a person a full tank of oil,” said Morell.
Because much of the low-income housing in New Bedford is not energy efficient, residents may need as much as one tank each month to heat their houses sufficiently.
In September, Gov. Mitt Romney, along with Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, drafted a letter, signed by 26 other governors, which requested an additional $1.276 billion in emergency heating assistance funds. Gov. Romney planned to meet with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) in Washington on Wednesday. Specter chairs the Appropriations Committee subcommittee that funds the program.
Sens. Kerry and Kennedy are considering further legislative steps to continue the fight.
“We have the ability to tell the elderly, and the disabled, and many others that we’ve heard them, and that we won’t leave them shivering in the cold this winter,” Sen. Kennedy said.
