Copyright The Boston Globe
State officials are tapping into $13 million to provide short-term assistance to residents facing heating emergencies while the federal government shutdown continues, Governor Maura Healey’s office said. The federally funded heating program provides financial assistance to more than 150,000 Massachusetts households, the majority of which contain seniors on a fixed income. Massachusetts is using remaining federal funds from last year’s Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) to support residents during the shutdown, the governor’s office said in a statement. The program is also known as LIHEAP, or Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. To help keep people warm, Congress annually appropriates funding for heating to the US Department of Health and Human Services, which then distributes money to states. Last cold season, Massachusetts was allotted $144 million by D.C., according to the governor’s office. Advertisement That spigot was shutoff on Nov. 1 because of the shutdown, according to Healey’s office. The Department of Health and Human Services was unable to be reached for comment. The agency’s web site reads: “Mission-critical activities of HHS will continue during the Democrat-led government shutdown. Please use this site as a resource as the Trump Administration works to reopen the government for the American people.” The heating assistance program has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs for a while. In April, the Trump administration fired every federal employee working on the federal program. Healy blamed President Trump and congressional Republicans in her statement for shutting down the government and putting heating assistance at risk, telling Republicans “to do their job.” A heating emergency includes not having any heat, receiving a termination notice from a utility, having less than one-eighth of a tank of oil, or having less than three days supply of other deliverable fuels. Advertisement Any family experiencing a heating emergency should contact their local administering agency to apply for heating assistance. “Our message to people experiencing a heating emergency right now is to continue to apply for assistance — we will do everything we can to keep our families warm,” Healey said in the statement. Adam Sennott can be reached at adam.sennott@globe.com.
