Sen. Kelly urges Biden, Congressional leaders to work in bipartisan fashion to approve more heating aid $$$
December 6, 2023For Immediate Release
Sen. Kelly urges Biden, Congressional leaders to work in bipartisan fashion to approve more heating aid funding
“In the absence of state assistance, we need federal help.”
Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly today wrote to President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to relay Connecticut’s urgent concerns with regard to obtaining additional federal dollars for the cash-starved heating assistance program.
More than 33,000 applications for the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program were approved between Sept. 1 and Nov. 4, according to the state Department of Social Services. That’s 23% higher than early November numbers last winter, when the program went on to shatter the 100,000-household mark for the first time.
“Simply put: Action must be taken,” Sen. Kelly wrote.
“Lives hang in the balance. Majority leadership here at the State Capitol has taken a wait-and-see approach to this crisis and hopes Congress will provide the additional funding. But hope is not a strategy, as I am certain you would agree. I urge you work in bipartisan fashion to approve supplemental LIHEAP funding. In the absence of state assistance, we need federal help.”
