The Cost of Heating Your Home

The cost of heating your home
Earlier this summer, I, along with my Republican colleagues raised concerns about the real-life financial pressure state 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 08/29/2022 that will provide you the opportunity to share your concerns about this topic either in person (via Zoom) or by submitting written testimony. Because I serve on the Legislature's Joint Committee on Appropriations, I will be a panelist to Monday's testimony, with the prerogative to ask questions and possibly extend selected individual's testimony for topics requiring further elaboration. Please copy me in advance with your submission if you feel your testimony will be of unique benefit to the Committee.
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:
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 a.m. 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: 
[email protected]; [email protected]; 
[email protected].
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 act on the allocation plan.

Sincerely,

State Rep. Greg Howard, 43rd District
Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding any state or local issue. I can be reached at 800-842-1423 or email [email protected].

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