LAWMAKERS OFFER MIDDLE INCOME HEATING ASSISTANCE

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Horsley Announces MI-HEAP

IN FACE OF HARSH WINTER SUFFOLK LAWMAKERS PROPOSE MIDDLE CLASS ENERGY ASSISTANCE

 

Horsley & Beedenbender Offer Middle Income Home Energy Assistance Program (MI-HEAP)

 

Hauppauge, NY – Today, Legislator Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon) announced the creation of a Suffolk County Middle Income-Home Energy Assistance Program (MI-HEAP) to provide financial security to Suffolk residents facing the prospect of a cold and expensive winter season.  MI-HEAP would offer as many as 1,00 families a one time $500 reprieve from sky-rocketing home heating bills in the cold winter months, and is designed specifically for Suffolk County residents that do not meet federal and state low-income criteria yet still struggle to keep the lights and heat on.

 

Legislator Horsley stated, “On Long Island many people are too poor to be rich, and too rich to be poor. It’s a terrible catch-22 that often leaves the hardest working residents in the county out in the cold.  MI-HEAP is geared just for these residents who get up and go to work every day, but are being financially assaulted by fat-cat analysts on Wall Street that have inflated the price of oil. MI-HEAP will offer those families that are hanging on by a thread much needed assistance so this winter no one has to make the choice between buying food or medication and keeping the heat on.”

 

Legislator Beedenbender stated, “Through no fault of their own, people who have worked hard their whole lives, and people working hard now, are going to struggle to keep the heat on this winter because of the outrageous price of heating fuels. It is our moral responsibility to assure that Suffolk County residents have heat in the winter months.”

 

Middle Income Eligibility

Eligibility for MI-HEAP is open to persons with income as high as 35% above federal poverty guidelines, and includes renters as well as homeowners.  Under existing state and federal standards a two person household making more than $30,804 annually is ineligible for assistance, while under the MI-HEAP plan that same couple making as much as $41,585 annually is eligible. Similarly a four person household making over $45,312 would not be eligible for assistance under existing state and federal standards, while under the MI-HEAP plan that same family making up to $61,171 annually is eligible for assistance.

 

Persons in Family or Household	NEW YORK STATE HEAP GUIDELINE	SUFFOLK’S MI-HEAP GUIDELINE
1	$23,556	$31,801
2	$30,804	$41,585
3	$38,064	$51,386
4	$45,312	$61,171
5	$52,560	$70,956
6	$59,808	$80,741
7	$61,164	$82,571

 

To Heat or Eat?

Since 1995 the average price of oil per gallon has gone up over 510 %, from $0.95 per gallon in 95’ to as much as $4.85 per gallon in 2008.  This means that in 1995 $1,000 would purchase over 1053 gallons of home heating oil, while in 2008 $1,000 only purchases 206 gallons of home heating oil.  To put that in perspective the average Long Island home uses 800 gallons of oil a year; resulting in an average annual home heating budget of over $4,193 annually compared to $2,400 just last year.  Making matters worse U.S. heating oil futures have risen by more than 60 percent from the same time last year, leap frogging to $3.21 from $1.98 per gallon.

 

An Ice Cold Failure

The Bush administration has proposed a 22% cut in traditional Low Income-HEAP (LIHEAP) funding that will force states to either lower benefit amounts or assist less people.  The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA) estimates that as many as 1.2 million households could be dropped from the program in response to such a funding cut.  Meanwhile, as reported yesterday in Newsday, the State Legislature adjourned last month without acting on either the Senate or the Assembly’s proposed home heating programs.

 

Legislator Kate Browning stated, “With skyrocketing costs of fuel at an all-time high, it is not only the poor that are affected. Middle-class families are struggling to put food on the table and keep their homes. This new initiative opens the door for hundreds of families that are in desperate need of aid for the upcoming winter.”  

 

Another Alternative: Project Warmth

The United Way offers yet another path to home heating assistance this winter by administering Project Warmth, Long Island’s only non-governmental emergency energy fund. Thus far, under Project Warmth over $662,002 in grants were distributed in 2007-2008 for home heating assistance, totaling over 1,866 families receiving assistance.  For more details call the United Way of Long Island at (631) 940-3757.

 

“With the rising cost of fuel and a sluggish economy, more Long Islanders will struggle to make ends meet this winter ” said Christopher Hahn president & CEO of United Way of Long Island “it is important that we do all we can to name sure there is a safety net for the thousands of working families who are a pay check away from having to make the difficult choice between fuel and food”. 

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Tags: Brian Beedenbender, HEAP, Heating, Home Energy Assistance Program, Home Heating, horsley, Middle Class, steve levy, suffolk county, wayne horsley