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New England Democrats say crisis looms
Jul 17, 10:04 AM
Connecticut Post
By PETER URBAN
WASHINGTON — Although they were standing in the shade Wednesday, 13 members of Congress who hail from New England could not avoid the muggy heat that hung over Capitol Hill.
As beads of perspiration formed across their foreheads, the lawmakers — all Democrats — took turns railing against a Bush administration proposal to cut the Low Income Home Energy Program by 22 percent to $2 billion.
The proposal to reduce federal heating assistance to the poor was included in the 2009 budget President Bush released in February.
Democrats complained then as well, but skyrocketing heating oil prices have them scurrying even if the winter seems far away.
Rep. John Larson, D-1, who organized Wednesday’s rally outside the Cannon legislative office building, references one of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s favorite quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.
“There is a fierce urgency of now,” says Larson.
About six million New England households will spend, on average, more than $4,000 this winter to heat their homes as heating oil prices are projected to range between $4.50 and $5 a gallon this winter — double last winter’s cost.
“We understand the pending crisis that looms,” Larson warned.
Richard Knoll, president of TEAM Inc., in Derby, Conn., which administers the LIHEAP program in towns along the lower Naugatuck Valley, said Wednesday that families are already concerned about their winter heating bills as they see prices continue to climb. “The basic award is around $500. That is enough to buy 120 gallons of fuel which isn’t much of anything for the entire winter,” Knoll said in a telephone interview. In fiscal year 2007, 86,000 Connecticut households were served by LIHEAP and, on average, each household received $537.
“We know some poor families are just making it on their current budget and without further help there is going to be some serious hardship,” Knoll added.
The House Democrats want to ideally set aside $9 billion this winter for LIHEAP and $1 billion more for winterization programs. They also want Bush to begin to release oil from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve to help drive down prices.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, said that Congress has a moral obligation to help poor families who are choosing between heating their homes and feeding their families.
“People are fearful they are going to freeze to death this winter. That is not hyperbole,” she said. The Democrats can count on Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, to support increased LIHEAP funding. He has signed on as a lead co-sponsor to legislation that Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., has submitted to increase funding to $5.1 billion in the next fiscal year.
In the Senate, the call has gone out for Bush to tap a 2-million barrel New England home heating oil reserve. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have teamed up on legislation to force the reserve to be released to help drive prices down.
“With prices continuing to rise, we must act now to ensure that families in Connecticut and the Northeast remain safe and warm when the snow starts to fall this winter,” Dodd said.
The New England lawmakers plan to pressure their colleagues to support the additional funds knowing that many of those in other northern states face similar worries. They plan to appeal to southern lawmakers on the basis that they have supported them in times of natural disasters like hurricanes.
“This is our Category 5 storm,” Welch said.
About 8 million American families rely on heating oil to keep them warm in the winter. Of that total, 6.2 million live in the Northeast, where prices are currently as high as $4.65 a gallon, or $2 a gallon higher than last year.
Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5, said that families are already hurting and there is “nowhere to go” within their budgets to pay for such an increase. The federal government, however, can find the cash.
“It is just a matter of choices,” he said.
The federal government is owed about $50 billion in uncollected royalties from oil companies that have drilled off shore. Those same companies are making record profits now, he pointed out. “To me that is an easy choice to make sure the heat is on this winter,” Murphy said.
Tough winter ahead
In 2007, 86,000 Connecticut households were served in the low income program, with each family getting about $537.
Home heating oil prices are expected to be between $4.50 and $5 per gallon, double last winter’s average cost.
