The Cost of Heating Your Home

Dear Friends & Neighbors,

In early June, my Republican colleagues and I raised concerns about the financial pressure residents would experience this fall as they faced the skyrocketing expense of heating their homes. We proposed a plan to use some of the state’s significant surplus funds to provide additional home heating assistance to those who would need it. Our plan fell on deaf ears. Our concern on this subject continues as the legislature grapples with the reality that one-time federal funding for people who rely on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program has evaporated. I want you to know that there’s a public hearing Monday that provides you an opportunity to share your concerns about this topic either in person (via Zoom) or by submitting written testimony. I hope you’ll consider participating by telling state lawmakers about how rising home heating costs will impact you and your family members. Here’s how to participate:

Public Hearing: Committees on Appropriations,

Energy, and Human Services

Monday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m.

Testify by Zoom: Go here to sign up. The deadline is Fri., Aug. 26 at 3 p.m. Speaker order will be posted on the Appropriations Committee website by 5 p.m. the same day.

Submit written testimony: Email a Word or PDF document to APPTestimony@cga.ct.gov; ETTestimony@cga.ct.gov; HSTestimony@cga.ct.gov. (Please copy me on the email using Irene.Haines@housegop.ct.gov) All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines.

If you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone. To register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at 860-240-0033 to leave your contact information.

You can watch the hearing via CT-N or YouTube Live.

FROM THE BULLETIN:

Appropriations Committee Energy and Technology Committee Human Services Committee Joint Public Hearing, with Committee Meetings to Follow Monday, August 29, 2022, 10:00 AM via Zoom FFY 23 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Allocation Plan Proposed Amendment to the FFY 23 Low Income Household Water Assistance Program Grant Allocation Plan The Appropriations, Energy and Technology and Human Services Committees will hold a joint public hearing, followed by committee meetings, on Monday, August 29, 2022, at 10:00 AM via Zoom. The public hearing can be viewed via YouTube Live. In addition, the public hearing may be recorded and broadcast live on CT-N.com. Individuals who wish to testify via Zoom must register using the On-line Testimony Registration Form. Registration will close on Friday, August 26, 2022, at 3:00 PM. Speaker order of approved registrants will be listed in a randomized order and posted on the Appropriations Committee website on Friday, August 26, 2022, at 5:00 PM under Public Hearing Testimony. If you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone. To register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at 860-240-0033 to leave your contact information. Please email written testimony in Word or PDF format to each committee at the following email addresses: APPTestimony@cga.ct.gov; ETTestimony@cga.ct.gov; HSTestimony@cga.ct.gov. The Committees request that testimony be limited to matters related to the item on the Agenda. The first hour of the hearing is reserved for state agency representatives. Public speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement. All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines. Committee meetings will be held immediately following the public hearing to take action on the allocation plan.