Ben Barnes, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s secretary of the Office of Policy and Management announced this morning an attempt to an estimated $73 million shortfall in the state home-heating fund, with the longer term hope that Congress reauthorizes funding for the low-income assistance.
The administration’s proposal would refocus the program first-and-foremost on those households that are heated by oil. Barnes noted in a release this morning that gas and electric utilities are prohibited by state law from shutting off customers for lack of payment between November 1 and May 1, allowing the governor to focus on heating oil.
“No one will freeze to death this winter due to cutbacks in federal funding for home heating. Period,” Barnes said in a statement. In the longer-term, we are already working with members of Connecticut’s Congressional Delegation to help maximize any additional federal benefits to which the state might be entitled, and we are beginning conversations with the utility companies about additional ways in which we can work together to find an acceptable long-term solution.”