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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State Rep. Neal Goodman |
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Goodman, Seip urge extension to help families pay heat bills, avoid shutoffs
HARRISBURG, April 17 – State Reps. Neal Goodman, D-Schuylkill, and Tim Seip, D-Schuylkill/Berks, sent a letter to Gov. Ed Rendell Tuesday, asking him to extend the application deadline for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to April 30.
In the letter, Goodman and Seip said the state Department of Public Welfare should employ unused funding, estimated at $13 million, to help Pennsylvania families pay their winter heating bills.
"Squirreling away LIHEAP money for September does nothing to help the thousands of Pennsylvanians who must pay their heating bills now. It also sends the wrong message to Congress, namely that additional federal funding for this program is unneeded when, in fact, the opposite is true," Goodman said. "The fact is, you can only cut so many corners to cover the heating bill, and many Pennsylvanians rounded the last corner."
Seip added, "The federal government has failed to adequately respond to immobilizing fuel increases and now it is up to the state to assist families in this time of crisis. We should use the LIHEAP funds now, when they are needed."
Goodman and Seip said Pennsylvania utilities are prohibited from shutting off service to most low-income customers from December through March. Given the higher than normal energy and heating costs during that period, it is likely that a flood of terminations may be imminent this month.
According to a recent study by the Pennsylvania Gas Association, as many as 62,000 households in the state may soon lose their service without an extension of the application deadline.
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