Establishes an emergency heating energy assistance program benefit to provide emergency assistance to certain households where such household is threatened with shut-off or an energy emergency due to nonpayment.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4956
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to establishing an
emergency heating energy assistance program benefit
PURPOSE:
To make households eligible for the Heating Energy Assistance Program
(HEAP) and that meet certain criteria eligible for an Emergency Heating
Energy Assistance Program (E-HEAP) benefit without having a utility
termination notice.
SUMMARY:
Section 1. Amends the social services law by adding a new section 98.
Section 2. Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Rising utility costs have had a devastating financial impact on count-
less New Yorkers, especially those who were already struggling to make
ends meet. This legislation will provide an E-HEAP program benefit to
households eligible for the HEAP program if such households are facing
an energy emergency.
Currently, in order to qualify for E-HEAP, a customer must be facing an
emergency which is defined as when the loss of heat is imminent. For
those customers receiving heat via a utility, a final termination notice
of service is used as a threshold. This process mandates that a customer
must have fallen significantly behind in payment in order to avail them-
selves to this much-needed benefit. Eliminating this requirement and
setting a financial threshold would reduce the administrative burden
that the Office of Temporary Disability Assistance, vendors, fuel
suppliers, and customers must bear under the current process, and allow
for customers to receive assistance in a more timely manner.
This legislation will allow customers to qualify for this critical
assistance prior to facing termination, ensuring that their service is
not put at risk. Such a simple change will benefit low-income households
and seniors on fixed incomes who might otherwise voluntarily go without
food or medication so that they can pay their utility bills.
RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
People of color and low-income New Yorkers are disproportionately
impacted by rising utility costs. Specifically, redlining and housing
discrimination has resulted in Black and Latino households paying more
in utilities than their White counterparts. Several studies have shown
that low-quality housing stock due to racial segregation is a major
driving factor of this disparity. This bill will make it easier for a
household to receive E-HEAP when they are struggling to pay their utili-
ty bills.
GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT:
TBD.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A9121; passed in the Assembly.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such effective date.
1 Constantine Kontokosta, Vmcent Reina, Bartozs Bonczak, "Energy Cost
Burdens for Low-Income and Minority Households: Evidence From Energy
Benchmarking and Audit Data in Five U.S. Cities," Journal of the Ameri-
can Planning Association 86 no. 1, (Sept. 2019): 89-105,
https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2019.1647446: Brentin Mock, "Neighbor-
hoods With More People of Color Pay Higher Energy Bills," Bloomberg,
November 25, 2019,
httns://www.bloomber.9,.com/news/articles/2019-11-25/why-white-household
s-nav-less-for-utilities.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4956
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES, SIMON, WALLACE, OTIS -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to establishing an
emergency heating energy assistance program benefit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section
2 98 to read as follows:
3 § 98. Emergency heating energy assistance program benefit. 1. Defi-
4 nitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall
5 have the following meanings:
6 (a) "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of the office of tempo-
7 rary and disability assistance.
8 (b) "HEAP" shall mean the low-income home energy assistance program,
9 as described in section ninety-seven of this title and required by title
10 26 of the federal omnibus budget reconciliation act of 1981.
11 2. The commissioner shall establish a state program to provide an
12 emergency home energy assistance program benefit to households eligible
13 for a low-income home energy assistance program where such household is
14 threatened with shut-off or an energy emergency due to nonpayment.
15 3. To be eligible for a benefit pursuant to this section, the appli-
16 cant shall document that he or she:
17 (a) receives a regular HEAP benefit which is insufficient or unavail-
18 able to ameliorate the emergency; and
19 (b) (i) is currently without heating fuel; or
20 (ii) has a heating fuel supply that will last less than seven calendar
21 days; or
22 (iii) has had heat-related utility service disconnected; or
23 (iv) has heat-related utility service currently eligible for discon-
24 nection; or
25 (v) is experiencing an energy emergency due to:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01615-01-3
A. 4956 2
1 (1) having heat-related utility service arrears more than sixty days
2 in arrears; or
3 (2) having outstanding heat-related utility service arrears in excess
4 of three hundred dollars.
5 4. For purposes of the annual HEAP state plan, and subject to the
6 availability of federal funds, a social services district may authorize
7 one or more household payments per program year in an amount which coin-
8 cides with the emergency benefits matrix developed annually by the
9 department of public service for the current program year.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
11 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
12 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
13 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
14 on or before such effective date.
