PRINTER'S NO. 276
No. 256 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY ZEARFOSS, RYAN, LYNCH, KATZ AND REED,
FEBRUARY 9, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, FEBRUARY 9, 1977
AN ACT
1 Providing certain types of assistance to certain senior
2 citizens, widows, widowers and permanently disabled persons
3 with limited incomes; establishing uniform standards and
4 qualifications for eligibility to receive assistance;
5 imposing duties upon the Department of Revenue and making an
6 appropriation.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Short title.
10 This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Senior
11 Citizens Home Energy Costs Assistance Act."
12 Section 2. Definitions.
13 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
14 have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
15 meanings given to them in this section:
16 "Assistance." The reimbursement paid to qualified claimants
17 for the costs incurred by these individuals in heating or
18 illuminating their homesteads.
19 "Claimant." A person who files a claim for assistance and
20 was 65 years of age or over or whose spouse was 65 years of age
1 or over during a calendar year or part thereof in which the
2 heating and utility costs were due and payable or a widow or
3 widower who was 50 years of age or over during a calendar year
4 or part thereof in which heating and utility costs were due and
5 payable or a permanently disabled person during a calendar year
6 or part thereof in which the heating and utility costs were due
7 and payable. For purposes of this act the term "widow" or
8 "widower" shall mean the surviving wife or the surviving husband
9 as the case may be and has not remarried. For purposes of this
10 act, the term "permanently disabled person" shall mean a person
11 who is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by
12 reason of any medically determinable physical or mental
13 impairment which can be expected to continue indefinitely.
14 "Department." The Department of Revenue.
15 "Home energy costs." Those costs incurred by the consumer
16 for fossil fuels including propane gas, electricity and natural
17 gas and coal which are used to heat or illuminate the homestead.
18 "Homestead." A dwelling whether owned or rented by a
19 claimant in which the claimant pays the costs of heating and
20 utility service either directly, through a special assessment or
21 as a portion of the total rent.
22 Section 3. Assistance.
23 (a) The amount of any claim for assistance for home energy
24 costs due and payable during the calendar year 1977 and
25 thereafter shall be determined in accordance with the following
26 schedule based on net incomes:
27 Percentage of Energy Costs
28 Income Allowed as Assistance
29 $ 0 - $2,999 100%
30 3,000 - 3,499 90
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1 3,500 - 3,999 80
2 4,000 - 4,999 70
3 5,000 - 5,999 60
4 6,000 - 7,499 50
5 7,500 - 7,999 40
6 8,000 - 8,499 30
7 8,500 - 9,499 20
8 9,500 - 9,999 10
9 (b) No claim shall be allowed if the amount of the
10 assistance computed in accordance with this section is less than
11 $10, and the maximum amount of assistance payable shall not
12 exceed 50% of the total costs or $100, whichever is the lesser
13 amount.
14 (c) The department shall apportion the amount of the costs
15 in accordance with the period of eligibility of the claimant in
16 determining the amount of the assistance to which a claimant is
17 entitled.
18 Section 4. Filing of claim.
19 A claim for assistance shall be filed with the department on
20 or before June 30 of the year next succeeding the end of the
21 calendar year in which the home energy costs were due and
22 payable. No reimbursement on any such claim shall be made from
23 the General Fund earlier than September 15 of the same year.
24 Only one claimant from a homestead each year shall be entitled
25 to assistance. If two or more persons are able to meet the
26 qualifications for a claimant, they may determine who the
27 claimant shall be. If the claimants are unable to agree, the
28 department shall determine to whom assistance is to be paid
29 giving the claimant with the highest assistance level the
30 preference in the dispute.
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1 Section 5. Proof of claim.
2 Each claim shall include reasonable proof of the net
3 household income and the amount of the home energy costs paid by
4 the claimant. If the claimant is a widow or widower an affidavit
5 of such status shall be included. Proof that the claimant is
6 eligible to receive disability benefits under the Federal Social
7 Security Act shall constitute proof of disability under this
8 act. No person who has been found not to be disabled by the
9 Social Security Administration shall be granted assistance under
10 this act. A claimant not covered by the Federal Social Security
11 Act shall be examined by a physician designated by the
12 department and such status determined using the same standards
13 used by the Social Security Administration. It shall not be
14 necessary that such costs were paid by the claimant: Provided,
15 That the home energy costs have been paid when the claim is
16 filed. The first claim shall include proof that the claimant or
17 his spouse was age 65 or over or 50 years or over in the case of
18 a widow or widower during the calendar year in which the heating
19 or utility costs were due and payable.
20 Section 6. Apportionment of rent to costs.
21 Every landlord, supervisor, group, corporation or association
22 or any other entity which charges as rent or maintenance costs,
23 the costs of providing an individual with home energy utilities
24 shall at the end of the year 1977 and thereafter, provide any
25 individual eligible for assistance under this act, a receipt
26 showing the actual costs of providing the home energy utilities
27 to the claimant.
28 Section 7. Incorrect claim.
29 Whenever on audit of any claim, the department finds the
30 claim to have been incorrectly determined, it shall redetermine
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1 the correct amount of the claim and notify the claimant of the
2 reason of the redetermination and the amount of the corrected
3 claim.
4 Section 8. Proration of claim.
5 In the event that the total amount of the claims exceed the
6 sum of $20,000,000 in any one year, then the percentage allowed
7 as assistance shall be reduced in the proportion that
8 $20,000,000 bears to the total amount of the claims in any one
9 year.
10 Section 9. Claim forms and rules and regulations.
11 The department shall prescribe necessary rules and
12 regulations and shall make available suitable forms for filing a
13 claim.
14 Section 10. Fraudulent claim; conveyance to obtain benefits.
15 In any case in which a claim is excessive and was filed with
16 fraudulent intent, the claim shall be disallowed in full and a
17 penalty of 25% of the amount claimed shall be imposed. The
18 penalty and the amount of the disallowed claim, if the claim has
19 been paid, shall bear interest at the rate of 0.50% per month
20 from the date of the claim until repaid. The claimant and any
21 person who assisted in the preparation or filing of a fraudulent
22 claim shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
23 thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding $1,000,
24 or undergo imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.
25 Section 11. Petition for redetermination.
26 Any claimant whose claim for assistance is either denied,
27 corrected or otherwise adversely affected by the department, may
28 file with the department a petition for redetermination on forms
29 supplied by the department within 90 days after the date of
30 mailing of written notice by the department of such action. Such
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1 petition shall set forth the grounds upon which claimant alleges
2 that such departmental action is erroneous or unlawful, in whole
3 or part, and shall be accompanied by an affidavit or affirmation
4 that the facts contained therein are true and correct. An
5 extension of time for filing the petition may be allowed for
6 cause but not to exceed 120 days. The department shall hold such
7 hearings as may be necessary for the purpose of redetermination,
8 and each claimant who has duly filed such petition for
9 redetermination shall be notified by the department of the time
10 when, and the place where, such hearing in his case will be
11 held.
12 It shall be the duty of the department, within six months
13 after receiving a filed petition for redetermination, to dispose
14 of the matters raised by such petition and mail notice of the
15 department's decision to the claimant.
16 Section 12. Review by Board of Finance and Revenue.
17 Within 90 days after the date of official receipt by the
18 claimant of notice mailed by the department of its decision on
19 any petition for redetermination filed with it, the claimant who
20 is adversely affected by such decision may by petition request
21 the Board of Finance and Revenue to review such action. The
22 failure of the department to officially notify the claimant of a
23 decision within the six-month period provided for by section 11
24 shall act as a denial of such petition, and a petition for
25 review may be filed with the Board of Finance and Revenue within
26 120 days after written notice is officially received by the
27 claimant that the department has failed to dispose of the
28 petition within the six-month period prescribed by section 11.
29 Every petition for redetermination filed hereunder shall state
30 the reasons upon which the claimant relies, or shall incorporate
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1 by reference the petition for redetermination in which such
2 reasons shall have been stated. The petition shall be supported
3 by affidavit that the facts set forth therein are correct and
4 true. The Board of Finance and Revenue shall act in disposition
5 of such petitions filed with it within six months after they
6 have been received, and in the event of failure of said board to
7 dispose of any such petition within six months, the action taken
8 by the department upon the petition for redetermination shall be
9 deemed sustained. The Board of Finance and Revenue may sustain
10 the action taken by the department on the petition for
11 redetermination or it may take such other action as it shall
12 deem is necessary and consistent with provisions of this act.
13 Notice of the action of the Board of Finance and Revenue shall
14 be given by mail to the department and to the claimant.
15 Section 13. Appeal to the Commonwealth Court.
16 Any claimant, aggrieved by the decision of the Board of
17 Finance and Revenue may, within 30 days, after receipt by
18 claimant of official board notice appeal to the Commonwealth
19 Court from the decision of the Board of Finance and Revenue, in
20 the manner now or hereafter provided by law for appeals from
21 decisions of said board in tax cases.
22 Section 14. Appropriation.
23 The sum of $20,000,000 or so much as may be necessary is
24 hereby specifically appropriated from the General Fund to the
25 Department of Revenue for the costs incurred in administrating,
26 implementing and paying the claims filed under the provisions of
27 this act.
28 Section 15. Effective date.
29 This act shall take effect immediately and apply to the
30 calendar year 1977 and each year thereafter.
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