The policy and political impacts of skyrocketing home heating oil prices came together Tuesday as Gov. Ned Lamont announced the planned release of $12.7 million from the $500 million contingency fund created last year to address the impact of federal cuts since Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House.
At a press conference at a community action agency in New Haven, the governor and other Democrats outlined plans to address rising oil prices attributed to the war on Iran, one of the issues angering voters in the approach to midterm elections expected to deliver a blow to the president and his party.
Families are paying the price for rising heating oil costs driven by Trump’s war in Iran, and the state has to respond, Lamont said.
With oil prices jumping about 80% from a year ago to nearly $6 a gallon, the confluence of the heating season and start of early voting next week gave the Democratic governor and members of Congress and the General Assembly an opportunity to score political points.
“Everybody needs to show up at the polls. Everybody needs to make their no’s and their yeses known,” said state Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven. “We need to make sure that we bring back the strength of the people in Washington and in Connecticut, and make sure that they are seen and understood.”
Connecticut’s heating assistance plan anticipates serving 94,291 households, including 32,893 that rely on heating oil. The majority of the aid still comes from the federal government through LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Trump repeatedly has proposed ending LIHEAP, only to be rebuffed by bipartisan opposition. U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said $75.3 million of the $94 million in federal LIHEAP funds the state hopes to get was released this week.
Energy assistance funds typically are paid out in three payments — a base level of $355 to $705, depending on need, followed by two crisis payments of up to $430 each. The $12.7 million will allow a fourth crisis payment, once the federal funds are exhausted.
Connecticut households may qualify for energy assistance if their annual gross income is at or below 60% of the state median income, which is $93,681 for a family of four. Households receiving means-tested benefits such as SNAP, Temporary Family Assistance, and Supplemental Security Income may qualify automatically.
The state also for the first time will “bundle” the base and crisis payments, allowing eligible recipients to fill their oil tanks at the beginning of the season, avoiding price increases expected over the winter. With an average oil tank of 275 gallons, a fill up will cost about $1,600.
“It makes a lot of sense financially, because the CAA’s will drop their administrative costs because they’re not trying to figure out parsing out a little bit here and a little bit there. It gets it out there. Let’s get it out to people,” said state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chair of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee.
The CAA’s are the nine community action agencies that administer the program under contracts with the state Department of Social Services.
Sen. Ryan Fazio, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, issued a statement prior to the press conference saying the governor was buying a headline, not making a policy statement.
“I don’t know what Governor Lamont is announcing today, but I’m sure it’ll make for a great headline,” Fazio said. “The real question is whether working families will actually see a dime. In 2023, Connecticut allocated $30 million in state heating assistance, and his administration failed to distribute. Why should families believe this time will be any different?”
The state allocated additional funding for LIHEAP in a special session in 2022, but the administration said additional federal funding and weakening oil prices obviated the need for the state funds.
Neither factors are expected this year.
“We face a perfect storm: home heating oil prices that are doubling, literally, along with the prices of groceries, medicine, everything rising, soaring astronomically. This perfect storm is going to be crushing to American families. It is going to impose real hardship,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said.
About $250 million remains in the contingency fund created to give the Lamont administration flexibility in responding to federal funding and policy changes. Lamont is required to notify the legislature leaders, who have a veto that never has been used.
“We’re all talking to legislative leaders right now,” Lamont said. “Let’s do $12 million. Let’s make sure that not only do we have the base case that we got from the federal government, which is hopefully going to be as much as we had last year, at least we can make good for those folks, especially when it comes to home heating.”
There was no shortage of political gibes at the president Tuesday.
“A year ago, look, we didn’t know what that master of mischief and chaos in Washington was going to do, but we knew he was going to do something, and that’s why we stood up and worked with the governor to create the $500 million federal emergency response fund to help manage the chaos,” state Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said.
“Because of this misguided war in Iran, it’s difficult for the benefits to get to people through the winter. That’s why I am so grateful to Gov. Lamont,” DeLauro said. “His decision to help fund seniors and their families, it will mean that they can fill their oil tanks without worrying about how they’re going to find the money.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
