Bush asked to help states fund fuel aid

WASHINGTON – A coalition of U.S. senators yesterday asked the White House to release $200 million in emergency funding for home heating because states are running out of money, and winter is far from over.

In Springfield, Mary Anne Kobylanski, the fuel aid director at the New England Farm Workers Council, said that 1,900 households have used their benefit – the maximum is $687 this year – and the fuel program has “between 40 and 45 percent of our money left to help residents in the city and in the past, our heavy spending months are February, March and April.


“Even though oil prices are down, with the small benefit levels, our clients are probably worse off than they were in the past couple of years,” Kobylanski said.

The Valley Opportunity Council in Holyoke provides fuel assistance to residents of Hampden County outside of Springfield. Gail Pisacane, director of energy programs there, said that between 30 percent and 40 percent of households have exhausted their fuel subsidy.

The Republican