Dems nix session on aid for heating
Republicans want to provide assistance for low-income residents
HARTFORD — With winter arriving in just months and Election Day seven weeks away Republicans and Democrats sparred again Monday over how to provide financial aid to low-income Connecticut residents facing skyrocketing heating oil prices.
For a second time in less than three weeks, Republicans tried to persuade majority Democrats in the General Assembly to agree to a special session to spend more on low-income heating assistance cut by federal officials. A spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont said it’s premature.
Senate Leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford and House Leader Vincent Candelora of North Haven delivered petitions to the secretary of the state’s office signed by legislative colleagues demanding a special session.
Special legislative sessions have frequently been called by lawmakers and the governor, but one called for by petition is rare. Candelora, who was elected in 2006, and Kelly, who followed in 2010, said it’s never happened in their legislative careers.
Unless enough Democrats sign on — unlikely because the leadership has dismissed Republican efforts — the latest call for a special session will go nowhere.
“We can’t do it alone,” Kelly said. “We’re asking Democrats to find it in their hearts and sign on to the petitions.”
A spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont said Monday calls for a special session are premature and urged state Republicans to urge congressional Republicans to support President Joe Biden’s request for increased home heating aid.
Lamont said Sept. 1 when Republicans last urged a special session that if winter temperatures were low “and we have a real need,” he and the legislature could add money in the 2023 legislative session set to begin in January.
Candelora said some funding could run out by December.
“This program has been slashed from last year and we’re going to see a 5% projected increase in participation plus fuel costs have increased,” he said. “So to say this program is OK the way it is is completely nonsensical.”
State legislators in August approved a home heating assistance plan with less federal money than last year for nearly 97,000 low-income residents. Financial aid for home heating assistance increased last year and in 2020 with federal pandemic money that is not available this year. As energy prices climb, more residents quality for financial help.
With low-income residents facing the prospect of losing thousands of dollars in heating aid, Republicans propose to increase to $191.5 million from the current $79.2 million in expected federal money. The GOP plan would use $112.3 million from federal pandemic aid.
Sen. Norm Needleman, an Essex Democrat and co-chairman of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee, said home heating oil prices are falling, prompting officials to watch prices before agreeing to a session of the legislature.
“If home heating prices are down by a dollar it changes the dynamics considerably,” he said.
Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, which represent home heating oil businesses, said oil prices have fallen. But pricing is fragile, he said. Consumer costs could jump if a hurricane halts production or the Russian war against Ukraine worsens already significant market disruptions.
Home heating oil is selling at $4.82 a gallon, down $1.55 from the spring at the end of the season, he said. In the spring of 2021, it was selling at $2.26 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Futures prices that signal what oil will cost months from now are down, but supplies in New England are tight because suppliers are waiting to buy oil when prices drop, Herb said.
Needleman dismissed Republican calls for a special session as “100% politics” because polls show the GOP candidate for governor, Bob Stefanowski, is trailing Lamont.
Candelora agreed that politics is a factor so close to Election Day Nov. 8. He accused Democrats of playing politics.
“They could try to discredit us by claiming it’s political but the reality is there’s a real need out there and people are suffering,” he said. “I would argue they are being political by not addressing it.”