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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4159 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3498 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Homar Gómez and Adam Gomez |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act to expand the low income home energy assistance program. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Homar Gómez2nd Hampshire1/17/2025Adam GomezHampden1/17/2025Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/21/2025Bud L. Williams11th Hampden1/21/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4159 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3498 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Gómez of Easthampton and Senator Gomez, a joint petition (accompanied by |
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| 19 | 19 | | bill, House, No. 3498) of Homar Gómez, Adam Gomez and others for legislation to expand the |
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| 20 | 20 | | low income home energy assistance program. Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to expand the low income home energy assistance program. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 23B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2Edition, is hereby amended by adding after section 24B the following new section:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 Section 24C. (a) The undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Community |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4Development shall operate a low-income cooling assistance program in accordance with the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act, 42 United States Code sections 8621 through 8630, |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6to cover the cost of an eligible household purchasing and installing an air-conditioning unit |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7and/or ceiling fans and/or box fan(s) up to $500 total as well as contribute funds to electric bills |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8if these funds are used to assist with cooling/air-conditioning during the appropriate times of the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9year. To be eligible for the program, a household shall meet the following conditions: (i) |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10household income does not exceed 60 percent of state median income; (ii) the applicant is the |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11homeowner or the applicant provides a written statement from the landlord allowing the 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12 installation of a window air-conditioning unit; provided, that no such written statement |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13shall be required for a box fan. |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14 (b) Each fiscal year, the department shall dedicate at least 10 percent of the funds |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15allocated for the purposes of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to the program |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16established in this section. These funds will be distributed to all geographic regions in the |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17commonwealth and priority will be given to underserved communities/disproportionately |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18impacted areas based on income, housing infrastructure and density, and climate. |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19 (c) The undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Community Development shall |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20submit an annual report to the joint committee on housing and the house and senate committees |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21on ways and means summarizing the activities of the program, including, but not limited to, the |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22number of applicants for the program, the number of accepted applications, a list of participating |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23retailers, a list of entities that assist the department in administering the program, the total |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24number of air-conditioning units and box fans distributed under the program, and the costs of the |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25program. |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26 SECTION 2. Section 124F of Chapter 164 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27Official Edition, is hereby amended by replacing the paragraph with the following:- |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28 No gas or electric company shall shut off gas or electric service to any residential |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29customer who cannot pay an overdue charge because of financial hardship. The department may |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30promulgate such rules and regulations consistent with this section as it deems reasonable and |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31necessary to implement the provision of this section. |
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