After some suppliers raised the red flag about the CT Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) about funding, Sen. Matt Lesser (D- Middletown) is here to address their concerns. Vendors say they are losing money on the program. Mike Hydeck and Sen. Lesser discuss possible solutions moving forward.
Mike Hydeck: With inflation and wild swings in the cost of home heating fuel in the last several years, the demand for heating assistance continues to go up. But, some of the fuel companies delivering the gas and oil say they might have to actually drop out of the program altogether, because they're losing money and it's hurting their business. They say the formula on how they get paid needs to be fixed. Senator Matt Lesser joins me now to discuss what's happening to change that. Senator Lesser good to meet you. We appreciate your time. So you're from Middletown, you're the chair of Human Services, you're on the Appropriations Committee. Some of the concerns with this in the heating assistance program. How is it funded? Is it state money and federal or just one or the other?
Matt Lesser: Well, traditionally, it's been a federal program. A couple of times, we've stepped in and supplanted that with some additional state resources. But it is a federal program.
Mike Hydeck: And Republicans have been calling, saying, we need to take some of the surplus and help out these hurting families. They said that last winter. Do you foresee that happening this winter to try to help the distributors? What happens from here on out?
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Matt Lesser: Well, look, I think we should have some skin in the game in Connecticut, but ultimately, this is a federal program, and Connecticut just does not have the financial capacity to replicate on the state level everything the federal government used to do, but is stepping back from.
Mike Hydeck: And how do you, do you lobby the federal government for more resources? Is that something the governor does? If you're waiting on the federal government, you can't just wait until they show up. You have to try to do something.
Matt Lesser: Absolutely, we're lobbying the federal government. Unfortunately, Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker from Louisiana, just does not seem to care about northeast families, about home heating assistance. Maybe it's because he's from a warm state. Because the federal government has actually cut funding for this program back to pre-pandemic levels, and so that's putting strain on the heating oil dealers, but more importantly, on Connecticut families and seniors who really rely on this program and its assistance.
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Mike Hydeck: Well, when both houses of Congress are so evenly speaking, evenly split, I don't know if you can tag it to one person. All right, so when a fuel company delivers, the families getting heating assistance, how do they get paid? Does it come from a state, state check? Is that how they get reimbursed after they deliver it?
Matt Lesser: Yeah, they get funded through the Department of Social Services. It goes to community action agencies and then goes out to the oil companies. And so we have a network of oil companies around the state that work with folks who get oil heat. They are also parallel programs for people who have propane and something for people who have electric heat as well, natural gas heat. So we have a program, no matter how people are heated, to make sure they get assistance. And as part of that, the delivery companies, the oil companies, do get a fee for the service.
Mike Hydeck: So now some are saying the cost of what it costs them to purchase it, deliver it and bring it to the homes, is starting to get, negatively impact on their business. One of the things they're saying is they're concerned about that they can only pick it up, or the price is only based on where it is shipped in New Haven. Is that correct? And can that change?
Matt Lesser: Yeah, so right now, we have one price for the state. It's based on the price in New Haven. These guys have been asking for regional prices because it costs a little bit more in the northeastern part of the state to get out to homes. And we understand that. You know, the real challenge is when we don't have the federal funding, you know, if you're going to increase the funds that go to the oil dealers, that means you're taking from low income families. You're taking from the families that are out there. And so that's really the tension that's out there. We have a task force that's looking at this issue to see if there's a way to, you know, help the oil dealers out a bit without taking from the families who are most in need.
Mike Hydeck: Right.You want to serve as many families as you possibly can, but you don't want them to drop out of the program. I mean, obviously we have more than a few. But for the people who are concerned about this, and they're on the fence about saying, Look, this is just not cost effective for me, what do you say to them? How do you try to figure it out in the future?
Matt Lesser: Well, you know, the good news is, we do have a lot of companies that do participate in the program. And no matter where you are in the state, you should be able to find an oil dealer who's going to service you, if you're, you know, a qualifying low income family. So that's the good news. But we've got to monitor the program. We've got to listen to, you know, all of the stakeholders to make sure that this program works. And then we've got to shine a light on the people who are funding it, and say to Congress, you know, we expect you to do your job. And that starts at the top with Speaker Mike Johnson, who has just not been funding this program. And you know, right now, this weekend, we're seeing more budget negotiations in Washington, and this is a really good time for Congress to adequately fund the program and support Connecticut families and seniors.
Mike Hydeck: So the price, one of the other bones of contention is the price is based on the delivery date. So now I'm unclear as to how the law is written, is if it's the delivery date when the hose goes into the customer's house, or is it the delivery date when the distributor gets it from New Haven? What's the definition of that?
Matt Lesser: It's when it gets to the customer. And one of the things we've done recently is make sure that the dealers are getting paid promptly. It used to take a long time for them to get their checks. Now they're getting paid within 10 days, and that what we've heard from the oil dealers is that that's made things a lot easier for them financially.
Mike Hydeck: So in your opinion, does the formula need to be reconfigured at all, or is it really just adding more distributors?
Matt Lesser: I'd like to do that. I think the question is, how do we do that without taking from the families who are most in need? And so that's the tension. And you know, the best way for us to do that is just to have more support from Washington to do that. Because if we're going back to pre pandemic levels at a time when the assistance, the need out there has not gone down, that really puts us between a rock and a hard place. And, you know, we should not take from, you know, from seniors who are just trying to keep their homes warm this winter. I don't think that would be the right move.
Mike Hydeck: All right. So last question. The new session doesn't start after to New Year, but it's going to get cold before that. When are we going to hear from this task force on when the next steps are?
Matt Lesser: I believe we'll hear from the next month, and so going we're to be looking very closely at what they recommend and hoping they provide some recommendations that will help the legislature formulate policy.
Mike Hydeck: Senator Matt Lesser, thanks for your time this morning. We appreciate it.
