BILL NUMBER: S9827

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
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(1). 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, Vincent
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 American Planning Association 86 no. 1,
(Sept. 2019): 89-105,
 
HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1080/01944363.2019.1647446; Brentin Mock, "Neighbor-
hoods With More People of Color Pay Higher Energy Bills," Bloomberg,
November 25, 2019,
 
HTTP://WWW.BLOOMBERG.COM/NEWS/ARTICLES/2019-11-25/ WHY-WHITE-HOUSE-
HOLDS-PAY-LESS-FOR-UTILITIES.ct. ct.