Published: August 05, 2008 11:21 pm      

STATE ASSEMBLY: Mmebers put heat on oil companies

State lawmakers are considering a plan to expand New York’s home heating assistance programs by passing along the added costs to the owners of highly profitable oil companies.

Democratic members of the state Assembly on Tuesday pushed a proposal to change income guidelines for the state’s Home Energy Assistance Program so that more individuals and families will be eligible for help as they start receiving their winter heating bills this year.

Their plan calls for an increase in HEAP income guidelines from 60 percent to 80 percent of median family income, which would allow a family of four with a household income of $55,500 or less to qualify. The program’s current family income threshold is $41,600.

A trio of Democratic state lawmakers who gathered outside of City Hall in Niagara Falls to discuss the proposal said the Assembly plan would essentially double the amount of home-heating assistance available to New Yorkers at a time when they will need it most.

“Without heating assistance, our concern is that people will literally freeze to death this winter,” said Kevin Cahill, the Assembly chairman of the state Legislature’s Energy Committee, who was joined at Tuesday’s press conference by Assembly members Francine DelMonte, D-Lewiston, and Dennis Gabryszak, D-Cheektowaga.

Assembly Democrats are also calling for a $250 million increase in state programs designed to encourage homeowners to weatherize their properties and invest in more energy efficient home-heating systems.

Cahill said the state’s current program has a waiting list of recipients numbering about 45,000. This year, Cahill said, the program has a budget of about $10 million, which he said would cover no more than 3,000 people on the waiting list.

Of course, paying for the proposed program enhancement remains a sticking point given the state’s current financial situation. Assembly members plan to cover the extra $550 million for an expanded HEAP and the $250 million needed for the new energy conservation and home energy efficiency programs with revenue that would be generated through taxes placed on companies like Shell and Exxon Mobil.

Under the bill already passed by the Assembly, a 2 percent gross receipts tax would be placed on large oil companies. In addition, the state would move to recover tax dollars from gasoline sales that occurred after a $2 per gallon tax cap was put into place in 2005. Lawmakers said that the Assembly’s measure includes restrictions to prevent the oil companies from passing along their added costs to consumers in the form of increased prices.

“When we passed a law capping the state sales tax on gas two years ago, New Yorkers never saw the savings,” DelMonte said. “With big oil companies collectively reporting over a trillion dollars in profits and home heating costs expecting to rise significantly this winter, it is imperative that the state recapture this money and give it back to New Yorkers through HEAP, which will help families heat their homes this winter.”

Assembly Democrats would like Gov. David Paterson and members of the state Senate to consider their proposal when state lawmakers return to Albany for a special emergency budget session on Aug. 19.

State Senate Energy Chairman George Maziarz, R-Newfane, said the proposal has been in discussion for some time.

“I think it is actually something we should take a look at,” Maziarz said. “I tend to agree with it.”

Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250.