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CAPITAL REGION
HEAP income eligibility rises
State offers help with energy bills to more households

    Households across New York state may be seeing a holiday gift after an increase in federal funding for the state’s Home Energy Assistance Program.
    Gov. David A. Paterson announced Tuesday that the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance is increasing the income levels for emergency HEAP benefits for the current heating season. The levels will increase from 60 percent of the state’s median household income to 75 percent, beginning Jan. 1. Under the new emergency levels, a family of four with a household income of as much as $56,635 would qualify for an emergency HEAP benefit if the resources the household has available to meet the emergency are less than the amount of the HEAP emergency benefi t.
    Paterson also announced that a $100 supplemental HEAP benefi t will automatically be issued to current HEAP recipients who pay directly for heat, increasing the maximum regular HEAP benefi t from $800 to $900.
    “New York state has already suffered major setbacks during this winter season, as ice and snow storms have crushed several regions of the state, leaving thousands of residents without heat and electricity for days at a time,” Paterson said in a statement. “On top of the severe weather we have faced, the uncertainty of the economy leaves not only the poor and elderly struggling to make ends meet, but leaves many New Yorkers wondering if they will be able to pay their bills, put food on the table and heat their homes this winter.”
    The supplemental benefit will be automatically issued to households that pay directly for heat and whose regular HEAP benefit was authorized prior to Monday. This benefi t will be sent directly to the recipient’s HEAP vendor. These households do not need to apply again to receive the supplement. For those households that apply for HEAP on or after Monday, $100 will be added to the amount of the regular HEAP benefit for eligible households paying directly for heat.
    The state received $550.9 million in federal HEAP funding, allowing the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to provide the additional emergency benefi t payments and supplemental benefit. Emergency HEAP benefits are available to...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01003