A $25 million cut in federal funds for energy assistance has left the state’s low-income residents in danger of freezing in their homes or making a choice between paying for heat or buying food and medicine.
Gov. Ned Lamont and leaders of the General Assembly must act now to allocate funds from the state’s $675 million projected budget surplus to stave off potential harm to state residents as we enter the heart of winter.
This looming crisis is not theoretical. In East Hampton, where I chair the Commission on Aging, our town’s senior services director, Jo Ann Ewing, reports that in the last two weeks she was contacted by five older adults who have run out of money for energy. They are only part of a larger statewide concern.
A Connecticut Mirror story published Jan. 12 made clear the shortfall between needs and funds. Federal funds for the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program dropped from $110 million to $85 million this year, according to the story. To make matters worse, demand has spiked. The state reports approving 56,721 applications for energy assistance by mid-December — up 18.6% from last year — with a projected 125,000 applications by spring.
[CT lawmakers still undecided whether to bolster home heating aid]
This demand was not unexpected. Last fall, the state’s Low Income Energy Advisory Board asked the state to allocate $17 million to bolster the beleaguered CEAP fund. So far, state officials have balked, apparently pinning their hopes of avoiding disaster on a mild winter, lower oil prices and newly established electric rate discounts for the poor. Depending on this list of variables is a poor bet. The significantly higher demand for help virtually guarantees that needs won’t be met for poor households. The CT Mirror story reports that state officials expect poor families will get a maximum of $1,350 in energy assistance, which is $970 less than last winter.
The Lamont administration and elected representatives should use the upcoming special legislative session to tap the state’s ample surplus to properly fund the energy assistance program. Allowing the neediest residents of one of the country’s wealthiest states to be in fear of freezing is a disgrace.
Eric Rosenberg, MD is Chair of the East Hampton Commission on Aging.
