Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Mosquera, Assemblyman Webber, Assemblywoman Downey and Assemblyman Eustace
SYNOPSIS
Requires DCA to verify income of low-income home energy assistance benefit applicants.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring income verification for low-income home energy assistance benefits and supplementing chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Community Affairs shall verify that applicants for benefits under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, established by 42 U.S.C. s.8621 et seq., meet the applicable income requirements prior to awarding benefits under the program, using appropriate data supplied by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.
b. The requirements of subsection a. of this section may be satisfied by verifying the income of a portion of all applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program benefits on a random or risk basis; provided, however, that the department shall verify the income of each applicant claiming to have no income.
c. The Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development and the Director of the Division of Taxation, shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), in order to effectuate the provisions of this section.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except the commissioner may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to verify the income of applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) benefits before awarding benefits under that program. The bill requires DCA to cross-check applicants with income data supplied by both the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury before awarding LIHEAP benefits. The cross-check required by this bill may be made on a random or risk basis, except that every applicant claiming to have no income would be subjected to an income verification review.
LIHEAP is a federally funded program that allows the State to provide assistance to help low-income residents cover home energy costs. On October 12, 2016, the Office of the State Comptroller released an investigative report on LIHEAP titled “Administration of New Jersey’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.” According to the report, LIHEAP benefits were awarded to persons who did not meet the income requirements of the program due, in part, to insufficient checks by the agencies that administer LIHEAP. This bill establishes in law the State Comptroller’s recommendation that DCA conduct adequate income verification reviews to ensure that LIHEAP benefits are not awarded to ineligible applicants.