Bill > S839

Introduced Session

This bill provides that every household in the State that is eligible to receive benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) shall receive a minimum annual energy assistance payment of $21 to qualify the household for a heating and cooling standard utility allowance under the SNAP program, unless a standard utility allowance would have been unavailable to the household under the State and federal criteria for SNAP and any applicable energy assistance programs in place as of July 1, 2013. Under the bill, this annual energy assistance payment is to be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or other energy assistance program for which the household is eligible, as applicable. The bill provides that any costs associated with increasing LIHEAP payments must first be charged to the unexpended balance of federal funds available for the LIHEAP program, to the extent permitted by federal law and regulation. The bill authorizes the Commissioner of Human Services, in consultation with the Commissioner of Community Affairs, to adopt rules and regulations to implement the bill. Prior to July 2014, the State had engaged in a practice called "heat & eat," whereby the State made annual energy assistance payments of $1 to SNAP recipient households that were not enrolled in LIHEAP. This payment qualified these households for a "heating and cooling standard utility allowance" within the SNAP program, which had the effect of increasing the household's monthly SNAP benefit. Under the federal Agricultural Act of 2014, households must receive more than $20 in annual energy assistance payments to maintain the household's eligibility for the standard utility allowance under SNAP. This bill therefore ensures that eligible SNAP households that are not currently enrolled in LIHEAP can receive the heating and cooling standards utility allowance.

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Committee Categories

Shirley Turner (D)*,  Joe Vitale (D)*,  Sandra Cunningham (D),  Robert Gordon (D),  Nellie Pou (D),  Teresa Ruiz (D),  Brian Stack (D),  Loretta Weinberg (D), 

Substituted by A3010 (on 04/12/2018)