Connecticut Governor Rell Calls for Prompt Action on Winter Heating Aid in August 22 Special Session

Governor Says Surplus Should Be Set Aside Solely for Heating Help

August 13, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today called on the General Assembly to take swift action on her proposals to provide energy relief to Connecticut families this winter during the August 22 special session. The Governor also re-emphasized that the Legislature should direct the entire state budget surplus to heating assistance programs.

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“As I made clear in calling for the special session, the budget surplus – regardless of the amount – should be used solely for home heating assistance for our families this winter,” Governor Rell said. “The General Assembly can and should approve my proposals during the August 22 session. To delay this action for any reason will hurt Connecticut families who will need help this winter more than ever before.

“I am pleased that Senator Don Williams agrees with me on the need to expand assistance to Connecticut families who will face unprecedented home heating costs,” the Governor said, citing comments today by the Senate President Pro Tem. “My budget office agrees that the budget surplus has grown to approximately $85 million – and that is good news, because we will need every penny of that surplus to help thousands of families to heat their homes.

“We will have families who never before sought heating assistance asking for help this winter,” Governor Rell said. “Families that – in years past – have been donors to organizations such as ‘Operation Fuel’ will themselves find the combination of heating costs, gasoline costs and food costs, not to mention other expenses, pushing their budgets to the breaking point and beyond. Accordingly, the need for the Legislature to take action also has never been greater.”

In her call of the August 22 special session, Governor Rell proposed a multi-faceted plan that would provide relief to low- and middle-income families, elderly residents on a fixed income and other vulnerable households, grants to help schools with heating costs, heating assistance funds to non-profit human service providers as well as actions to ensure that fuel oil dealers have the financial resources to make deliveries to customers.

Under Connecticut law, if a budget surplus is not designated for a specific use it is automatically deposited into the Rainy Day Fund on September 1 of a given year.

“Action before September 1 is critically important because we cannot allow the budget surplus to be rolled into the Rainy Day Fund,” Governor Rell said. “If the budget surplus goes into the Rainy Day Fund, additional action by the legislature would be required to spend it for energy programs -- and we need these funds to be in place to help people before the arrival of the winter heating season, which is fast approaching. In addition, if the spigot for the Rainy Day Fund is opened for energy programs, legislators will be tempted to use it to fund a host of other spending initiatives.

“The Rainy Day Fund is the state’s nest egg, but too many lawmakers view it as a candy store for their pet projects,” the Governor said. “I will not permit them to use Rainy Day funds to satisfy their uncontrollable spending appetites. Our Rainy Day Fund has a healthy balance of more than $1.3 billion but we will need that money next year in the event of a budget deficit.”

The special session will allocate surplus money from the budget year that ended June 30 to a variety of special heating assistance programs, many of them run by the non-profit Operation Fuel. The Governor said soaring fuel oil prices will place tremendous financial burdens on municipalities and non-profit agencies.

Among the Governor’s proposals that will be addressed in the August 22 special session:

* Reducing the minimum delivery of heating oil to a more affordable 100 gallons
* Providing enough funding to Operation Fuel to so it can offer home heating assistance to not only low-income households but also middle-income families who may need emergency help during the winter
* Providing funding for home heating assistance to senior citizens
* Requiring home heating oil dealers to guarantee their prepaid contracts to better protect consumers
* Providing grants to municipalities to pay for heating costs of schools and classrooms
* Providing heating assistance to non-profit human service providers
* Directing 50 percent of abandoned utility deposits and refunds that escheat to the state to Operation Fuel

“With the national political conventions and the start of school dominating the last couple weeks of August, lawmakers need to focus on our families and their heating needs now,” the Governor said. “The legislature should complete this important work on August 22nd and provide energy assistance – and peace of mind – to thousands of Connecticut families.”

Source: Connecticut Governor