Feds say $3.7B in heating assistance funding will be released by end of month
The federal government on Tuesday said it will release $3.7 billion in funding to restart a low-income heating assistance program that had been paused during the government shutdown. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
The federal government on Tuesday said it will release $3.7 billion in congressionally approved funding to restart a low-income heating assistance program that had been paused during the government shutdown, but it could be more than a week for the money to start flowing.
Andrew Gradison, principal secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a letter released Tuesday said the funding will go out to state agencies that administer the Home Energy Assistance Program grants by the end of this month.
Gradison, who oversees the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, in the letter blamed 42 days of "the Democrat-led shutdown," for causing the delay before Congress passed, and President Donald Trump signed, a continuing appropriations bill Nov. 12. Democrats blame congressional Republicans and Trump for the closure and funding delays.
The letter, provided to Newsday by AARP, which has advocated for weeks for release of the funds, cited total congressional approval of some $4.025 billion in funding for HEAP this year, and said its Office of Community Services plans to release $3.6 billion of "regular block funding and an additional $100 million" of final supplemental funding from a separate congressional act to restart the program. An HHS spokesman didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
The federal agency also said grant awards approved prior to fiscal 2026 awards would be accessible via the department’s Payment Management System.
The HHS division said it is "working expeditiously" to meet its goal of getting the bulk of funding to grant recipients quickly to help those facing increasing winter heating costs as cold weather sets in.
Yesterday, Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-Amsterdam), called on the federal government to release the program funds, saying delays were impacting some 1.5 million New Yorkers who depend on the money to heat homes. Around 70,000 Long Islanders depend on HEAP help. Most utilities, including LIPA, have paused shutoffs of impacted customers and stopped automatic de-enrollment of those who require HEAP eligibility for enrollment in related assistance programs.
In a statement Monday, Barbara Guinn, commissioner of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, said delayed HEAP funding has "created an unacceptable amount of uncertainty for these households who must wait for financial assistance to help heat their homes during a time of rising energy prices."
AARP spokesman Brendan Vogel said the group expects that the state will distribute HEAP funding, once available, "as quickly as possible," because "high termination rates remain a serious concern in New York, and AARP will continue to monitor these shutoffs closely. In October alone, more than 1,200 households lost service every day."
Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.
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