Assemblymember Lancman (D-Fresh Meadows) announced that New York State is expanding its Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) to help additional households meet their home heating needs this winter due to an increase in federal aid. Standard HEAP benefits assist low-income New Yorkers in paying for the cost of heating their homes. HEAP also provides emergency benefits to New Yorkers who are facing a heat or heat-related energy emergency and do not have the available resources to meet the emergency.

“HEAP benefits are critical during a serious economic downturn,” Assemblymember Lancman said. “Many families have been running low on heating fuel, have had to choose between heat and other necessities or have been forced to dangerous improvised heating methods. These funds will help keep seniors and working families safe and warm this winter.”

Assemblymember Lancman said a one-time federal authorization increased the income levels for emergency HEAP benefits from 60 percent of the state’s median household income to 75 percent, beginning January 1, 2009. Under the new emergency levels, a family of four with a household income of as much as $56,635 – a threshold that increased from $45,312 in 2008 – 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 benefit.

New York State has received $550.9 million in federal HEAP funding – helping to provide emergency benefit payments to many households that were not previously eligible and offer an additional $100 HEAP benefit to current recipients, according to Assemblymember Lancman. The benefit will automatically be issued to current HEAP recipients that pay directly for heat, increasing the maximum regular HEAP benefit from $800 to $900.

“The poor and elderly are threatened the most by economic uncertainty and harsh weather. We must continue to do everything we can to help them through these difficult times,” Assemblymember Lancman said. “Expanding emergency HEAP is a first step in protecting those who are most affected by fluctuating oil prices.”

Families throughout the state have already dealt with several setbacks during the last two months, including ice and snow storms that crippled several regions of the state and left thousands of residents without heat and electricity for several days.

“New York’s most vulnerable residents could receive up to $2,500 in heating aid this winter,” Assemblymember Lancman said. “That could make the difference in surviving what threatens to be a very bitter winter.”

For further information about HEAP, including how to apply, please call the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-342-3009 or visit the OTDA Web site at http://www.otda.state.ny.us/main/heap/. To find out if you are potentially eligible for HEAP assistance, visit www.myBenefits.ny.gov.