Representative Sylvester Turner’s office says Representative Turner, the leading advocate for the System Benefit Fund, has agreed to an amendment to House Bill 7 to eliminate the Texas System Benefit Fund on September 1, 2016.
This eliminates the only source of energy assistance provided by the State of Texas for the poorest Texans, including the elderly and persons with disabilities.
When you read about elderly and disabled persons dying because they cannot afford Texas deregulated electric costs be sure to thank the Texas Legislature for your “tax cut” of a few cents on your electric bill created by eliminating this program to help the poor.
From the Texas Department of Health website here are the heat and cold-related death statistics for 2003-2008 before energy assistance is eliminated by the Texas Legislature…
From 2003-2008, there were 263 deaths reported among Texas residents with exposure to excessive natural heat as the underlying cause of death. During this same time period, there were 115 deaths reported among Texas residents with exposure to excessive natural cold as the underlying cause of death.”
[…] Fund, the state program created to help the low-income Texans with their deregulated energy bills, will be wound down in the next three years and then cease to […]