IN SOME ways, poor households always face a chill. In winter, they have to pay high heating bills. In the spring, they face notices saying their utilities could be cut off because they have overdue utility bills. This year, poor people owe an average of $800, according to ABCD, the local anti-poverty agency. But some overdue bills are $2,000 or more. It's a total of more than $90 million.
In the winter, keeping warm can become an unacceptable patchwork affair of running space heaters and ovens, moving in with relatives or into homeless shelters, or simply living with the cold.
Then in the spring, people struggle to pay swollen bills - debt that may be piling on top of other debts, compromising people's year-round ability to pay bills or to save money.
"We can't act as if winter doesn't exist," says Robert Coard, ABCD's president, as if the cost of living in Massachusetts is the same as it is in Florida. Rather, what Coard wants to see is a systematic way to help people withstand the cold.
Among those in need are elderly and disabled residents as well as parents working several low-wage jobs. They largely have no realistic way of keeping up with the spiraling costs of heat and food.
May 1 was the end of the winter moratorium on shutting off utility service to low-income households in arrears on their bills. So shutoffs are starting. Charlie Harak, a lawyer at the National Consumer Law Center, estimates that some 10,000 households could lose their utilities.
One line of defense is the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, money to help poor people pay for heating fuel. But last year, LIHEAP only distributed $2.6 billion. With some lawmakers citing fears of overspending, Congress has yet to appropriate the full $5.1 billion that it is authorized to spend. This is irresponsible. More federal money would keep people warmer and help stabilize their finances.
In some years, Massachusetts kicks in, adding $15 million last year, which was roughly $100 to $150 per needy household. But there is no line item in the state budget for fuel assistance. Senator Michael Morrissey, a Quincy Democrat, has, however, filed a $15 million budget amendment that the state Senate should consider.
Massachusetts should have a fuel assistance line item or, failing that, a budget amendment that can be released in the summer. The state Senate should look at these options as it begins its budget debate this week. Keeping people warm is essential work for government - ensuring that the most basic human needs are met.
