As cold weather and winter approaches, many North Country residents are concerned about the rising costs of heating their homes. That’s why I joined leaders from the United Way of the Adirondack Region, Inc, Joint Council for Economic Opportunity (JCEO), and the Franklin County Office for the Aging today to discuss the rising need for assistance in our communities and to announce my bill to create an emergency middle-income home energy assistance fund and suspend taxes on heating fuel. I also called on our federal partners to increase the funding for HEAP and expand the income eligibility to provide additional assistance as well. This will benefit many of our seniors and those on a fixed income. This is truly a community effort- we all need to look out for our neighbors this season and work together to make sure everyone is warm in their homes this winter.