Thursday July 10, 2008
Blog-o-rama was musing yesterday after about how long it would take Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s media department to pick up on an AP story out of Boston that said New England governors were beginning a campaign to lobby the Bush administration, Congress and even presidential candidates in attempt to get additional heating assistance for what may be a long,cold winter of $5-a-gallon fuel oil.
The article moved on the wire at about 2:23 p.m. It quoted New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, Maine Gov. John Balducci, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Rhode Island Gov. Gov. Don Carcieri, who had been meeting in Boston. Rell hadn’t made the scene, though – instead staying in the Capitol to announce the new state Department on Aging, which will start in exactly a year – so Rell’s name didn’t appear in the story.
Two hours later the predictable new release arrived from her office.
“Governor Rell Presses for More Federal Home Heating Aid,” it was headlined.
“Governor M. Jodi Rell and other New England governors today are pressing U.S. Congressional leaders for increased federal aid to help low-income residents heat their homes this winter…”
Blog-o-rama is making fun of what could become a very serious issue in just a few months.
The governors want more funding through the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to buy as much fuel as last winter, but they need $430 million more because of the rising costs. That’s a 61-percent increase for the same amount as last year.
“Never before in modern history has New England faced the prospect of so many residents being unable to heat their homes,” Rell’s rapid-response statement said.