Heating assistance programs could run out of funds

More than 60,000 Long Island households - and 1.5 million statewide - that cannot pay heating bills this winter would lose government help if Congress doesn't restore $1.8 billion in funding in the next three weeks, state officials and federal lawmakers say.

New York's federally funded low-income home energy assistance program is operating with $202 million less than last year under temporary spending measures approved by Congress and set to expire Dec. 3. If the House and Senate do not fund the program at $5.1 billion, the state programs would run out of money next month as winter sets in, Gov. David A. Paterson said.

The scenario would leave the poor, elderly and disabled nationwide whose homes were heated by the program with few other options.

Local belt-tightening also killed a similar Suffolk County heating assistance program for middle-income residents; it was voted down last week in the county legislature as too expensive.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Paterson urged the administration to release the emergency portion of home energy funding to keep programs like those in New York into next year.

"Rising fuel prices and the struggling economy are increasing the burden for low-income families, particularly in the Northeast, where the winters are longer and more families rely on deliverable fuels that are subject to fluctuating prices," Paterson wrote.

Governors in five other northeastern states have also called for funding to remain at 2009 levels, but congressional sources said that could be difficult with a lame-duck House and Senate.

Thousands qualify on LI

On Long Island, the program, known as HEAP, provided payments of up to $600 a year per household directly to home heating suppliers for more than 43,000 households in Suffolk last year and more than 17,000 in Nassau. To qualify, a family of four must have a household income no greater than $49,000. Food stamps and welfare recipients automatically qualify, and the elderly and disabled have less strict requirements.

The payments have helped Jerome Jurman, 80, heat his Syosset home for the last few years. The Air Force veteran and retired photographer said his monthly income is about $1,800, a combination of Social Security and workers' compensation,

"I'm having a rough time," said Jurman, whose heating bill is about $300 a month. "It's hard paying all these bills. I'm using my credit card for most of them now."

Regina Anderson, the nonprofit Family and Children's Association worker who helped Jurman sign up for HEAP, said the program allows families to focus on other spending needs, such as food, rent and clothing.

"This is how they survive the winter. They count on this," she said.

Hoping for more funds

A temporary congressional spending measure that expires Dec. 3 pegs HEAP funding nationwide at a reduced level of $3.3 billion, but the House and Senate disagree on how to move forward. A Senate bill mirrors the Obama administration's proposed budget, which calls for $3.3 billion in funding and assumes Congress will appropriate $2 billion more on its own.

House lawmakers and state officials doubt the $2 billion will materialize in a lame-duck Congress. A House bill calls for the same $5.1-billion funding as 2009.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) Wednesday called on Senate leaders to adopt the House version, saying the cuts would be "disastrous."

Said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.): "We are going to do everything we can to ensure they continue to receive the support they need to keep warm."