Executive Order

Executive Order  No. 153: Authorizing the Executive Office of Communities and Development to apply for federal aid for fuel assistance to low-income families

Date: 02/14/1979
Issuer: Edward J. King
Mass Register: No. 146

Table of Contents

WHEREAS, low-income households in Massachusetts must now pay up to 29.8% of their incomes for all direct energy costs; and

WHEREAS, approximately seventy percent (70%) of home heating fuel in Massachusetts is provided by fuel oil; and,

WHEREAS, the cost of fuel has risen an average of 14% statewide. and in Nantucket, Barnstable, and Dukes Counties has risen 20% since May 1,1978; and,

WHEREAS, in Suffolk, Middlesex, Worcester, Norfolk, Essex, Plymouth, Bristol, Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties, it has been documented that, since January 25, 1979, fourteen (14) consecutive days of temperatures averaging 25 degrees or below have been recorded; and,

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has appropriated, through the Emergency Assistance Program in the Department of Public Welfare, a 50% non-federal share of emergency assistance funds in the following amounts: 1) for electricity: $997.960 (out of a total $1,995,920); for natural gas: $1,517,787 (out of a total $3,035.574); and for oil: $675,940 (out of a total $1.351.881); and whereas this appropriation has covered emergency energy costs; and,

WHEREAS, approximately 30,000 low-income households in Massachusetts face threat of utility shut-off or discontinuation of oil supply; and,

WHEREAS, 29,611 households were serviced in 1978 under federal crisis intervention monies and an additional 6,074 were serviced under a similar state-funded appropriation of $1 million in 1978; and

WHEREAS, emergency conditions now exist in the Commonwealth, where Suffolk, Norfolk, Plymouth, Middlesex, Essex, Bristol, and Worcester Counties have been declared disaster areas as a result of winter-related flooding conditions; and,

WHEREAS, the low-income people of Massachusetts are suffering the effects of higher fuel prices and a 9% overall increase in inflation, causing undue hardship and threat of shut-off during the winter months; and,

WHEREAS, this emergency cannot be resolved in Massachusetts with- out major Federal financial assistance to supplement local programs for fuel assistance,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDWARD J. KING, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acting by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the statutes of this state, do hereby DECLARE AND ORDER:

That a Winter Related Energy Emergency as provided in the Regulations governing the FY'79 Crisis Intervention Program as funded by the Community Services Administration exists in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that this emergency cannot be resolved without major Federal financial assistance. The Secretary of the Executive Office of Communities and Development and his designees in the Division of Social and Economic Opportunity, are hereby directed to take all necessary actions to apply for, receive and expend funds from the United States Community Services Administration pursuant to the FY'79 regulations.

This Order shall take effect immediately.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 14th day of February in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy-Nine, and of the independence of the United States of America, the Two Hundredth and Third.

Edward J. King,Governor
2/14/79

Michael Joseph Connolly
Secretary of State

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