Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Author: Michael Swayze

  • A Bad Storm Forming For Energy Consumers

    The large ranks of New Jersey’s unemployed face a difficult winter based on the programs currently available to assist energy consumers. In recent years Washington and Trenton responded to what has been called the Great Recession. However, this winter the response has been less than expected. New Jersey has a number of programs to help meet the energy needs of low income customers and the thousands out of work. These programs – LIHEAP in particular – face a difficult year.

    LIHEAP stands for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program which is 100% federally funded. Last year it was funded at $5.1 billion. Under the current Congressional Continuing Resolution – scheduled to run out December 3 – LIHEAP is funded at $3.3 billion. As a result, New Jersey policymakers have taken the following actions:
    1) Reduced eligibility guidelines from 225% of the Federal Poverty Index to 200%. This will result in tens of thousands households not eligible this year, even if they have the same household income as last year.
    2) LIHEAP benefits in New Jersey have been reduced 20% across-the-board.
    3) Emergency benefits – including those heating by oil – will be reduced to $450. This is not even enough to order a 200 gallon minimum delivery.
    4) Funds intended for non-LIHEAP eligible families via New Jersey SHARES, originally expected last July are still being held up.

    Heating oil prices are currently 36 cents higher than a year ago according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Heating Oil and Propane Update website. A recent price of residential heating oil in New Jersey was $3.18 a gallon, according to the executive director of the New Jersey Fuel Merchants Association.

    In terms of weather forecasts, the Farmer’s Almanac predicts the eastern third of the United States will face colder than normal winter temperatures. While I don’t regularly buy a copy of the Almanac or have a vested interest in it, you can read about their long range winter forecast.

    Households who are above the LIHEAP income guidelines may be able to get help from the statewide nonprofit New Jersey SHARES, assuming they receive long awaited funding. A bill, S3064 , signed into law in January, 2010 was to provide $25 million to New Jersey SHARES beginning in July, 2010. The funding has been held up due to political and administrative delays, even though many families have their utilities shut-off or uncertain where they will find money to pay for fuel. The Board of Public Utilities currently is holding the purse strings and recently issued an announcement about future funding. You can read their recent press release .

    If you are above the LIHEAP income guidelines but hope to get help from New Jersey SHARES, you should first contact your utility company and request to be placed in a protected category under the Winter Termination Program rules. If unsuccessful, contact the Board of Public Utility’s Division of Customer Assistance at 800-624-0241.

    Households that are applying for LIHEAP benefits – or inquiring about the status of their LIHEAP and/or USF application – should contact the LIHEAP Hotline at 800-510-3102. The Hotline is well staffed and able to handle calls Monday through Saturday from 8am to 5pm. It is suggested calls be made to this call center rather than to the local application agency.

    For more information on energy assistance programs visit the New Jersey Community Resources’ NJ energy page.

  • Fugitive Safe Surrender – November 3-6, 2010

    Wanted By The Law? – Fugitive Safe Surrender – November 3 – November 6, 2010

    For four days in November fugitives in New Jersey will be able to stop running and start to get their lives back on track. The Fugitive Safe Surrender program enables individuals with warrants and other non-violent felonies to peacefully surrender at a neutral setting. It is open to US citizens and legal residents only. It will be held Wednesday, November 3 through Saturday, November 6, 2010 at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, 771 Somerset Street, in Somerset, New Jersey. It is open to anyone with a New Jersey warrant regardless of where in the state they live. Program officials indicate it is not an amnesty program although favorable treatment is given and cases can typically result in probation or reduced fines.

    According to the Fugitive Safe Surrender website, about 98 percent of those who turn themselves in are not taken into custody. However, fugitives with warrants for violent crimes are more likely to be taken into custody. Lawyers will be present and available to provide legal assistance. Representatives from social service agencies will be present to provide information on social services, such as employment, health care, housing, drug rehabilitation, etc.

    Reverend DeForest Soaries, Jr., pastor of the hosting church, First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens , recently stated, “We are opening our church to Fugitive Safe Surrender because we believe in the benefits of offering a second chance to those who have broken the law. By taking this big step, people who live in hiding today can find peace of mind, freedom within the law, and the opportunity to take on new responsibility for themselves and their families.” Approximately 2500 are expected to take advantage of this year’s event. Prior events in Camden in 2008 and in Newark in 2009 allowed over 6000 fugitives to clear their warrants.

    Fugitive Safe Surrender posters are available for community distribution in both English and Spanish.

    For more information, call 732-828-2009 or visit www.fssnj.com. The surrender site, First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, will be open 9am to 4pm, November 3 through November 6.

  • A Sad Day For New Jersey

    For the second time this month Governor Christie decided today to stop construction on the ARC (Access to the Region’s Core) tunnel between New Jersey and New York City. Unfortunately the decision to stop the largest infrastructure project underway in the United States will have ramifications that will be felt for years to come and will deprive the region of badly needed jobs and stimulus money.

    Although the Governor claims it will allow the state to use about $2.7 billion to bolster the depleted Transportation Trust Fund there are many things he is giving up. New Jersey will have to return more than $200 already spent on the ARC Project. Where will that money come from? New Jersey will be giving up $6 billion in matching funds from the federal government and the Port Authority. Wouldn’t that money generate jobs and have a multiplier effect for the region? Perhaps that is not important.

    The Governor did not mention that to get to the jobs of the future require long range planning. How will commuters from New Jersey get to good paying jobs in Manhattan as highways are jammed and no more trains can fit into the 100 year old tunnel currently in use? He did not mention the project would reduce travel time for thousands of commuters. He did not mention the project would cause the value of homes along the route to increase in value which could generate additional tax revenues. Perhaps he did not consider the project would reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

    The New Jersey AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech issued a press release today that is worth repeating. In it he stated the following: “The Governor’s decision to cancel the ARC Tunnel was a major setback for our state as well as the millions of commuters and families who would benefit from this project. For a Governor who claims to be concerned with money first and foremost, his decision resulted in forfeiting $3 billion in federal funds, $3 billion from the Port Authority, $18 billion in increased property values, and the economic benefits that come from expanding access to higher paying jobs in New York City. The 6,000 new construction jobs and 45,000 permanent jobs which would have been created by this project would have also resulted in greater revenues for the state by taking people off the unemployment line and putting people back to work. When you do the math, the benefits of this project far outweigh even the highest cost overrun predictions.”

    Wowkanech went on to add, “As the leader of our state, Governor Christie has the responsibility to do more than just wait for solutions from Washington, DC. A project of this magnitude demands that our Governor should bring his team together to negotiate an acceptable funding option or at least offer an alternative of his own. By taking just two weeks to cancel the largest public works project in the nation, the Governor revealed that his interest in the tunnel has always been no more than skin-deep. With each scrapped project, veto, or layoff, the Governor’s cuts continue to become more about politics and less about policy. For a Governor with a my-way-or-the-highway approach to governing, this makes for a very dangerous combination – one which will likely end up costing our state more in the end. With ARC’s cancellation, perhaps we have already reached this point.”

    Perhaps the best quote today but not necessarily the most polite comment came from Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D – Essex) when he said, “Any economist worth his salt will tell you that you can’t cut your way out of a recession.”

    If you wish to learn more about what ARC could have done you can visit the official ARC website. However, the site will probably be removed very shortly.

    Governor Christie, what are you doing to our state?