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Insurers Deny Home Heating Oil Cleanups.....Again

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
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Oct
17
Many thanks to Ryan Kath at NBC News 10 Boston for helping the LSPA spread the word about the importance of proactively requesting insurance coverage for home heating oil spills and leaks. Here is his most recent story about the financial and emotional nightmare facing a Rutland family. This is just one more example of why the LSPA is working to get legislation passed to mandate that insurers provide coverage for home heating oil spills and leaks.

LSPA's Home Heating Oil Insurance Bill Stalled as Massachusetts Legislature Closes Out This Session

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
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Jan
11
After an unprecedented year, the state legislature closed out its 2019/20 session early Wednesday, January 6, 2021 and began the new session (formally "The 192nd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts") later the same day.
Unfortunately the LSPA's home heating oil legislation, S. 594 which would mandate insurance coverage, did not proceed past the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. The LSPA expects that Senator Anne Gobi will again file the legislation in the new session on our behalf; we will begin again to make our case and tap the established strong relationships we have made to date.

Special thanks to Senator Gobi for her efforts as the bill's lead sponsor.
Thank you to former Senator James Welch and Representative James Murphy, Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, for their support at the committee level.
 
We appreciate the support of our environmental partners: MA Rivers Alliance, MA Association of Conservation Commissioners, Charles River Watershed Association, Mystic River Watershed Association, and OARs: For the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers.
 
The LSPA's Legislative Committee extends a sincere thank you to the many individual LSPA members who called, emailed, and wrote their legislators urging them to support this bill. We will call on you again!

We are confident the next legislative session is OUR TIME!


Action Alert: Urge Your State Senator to Support LSPA's Home Heating Oil Insurance Bill

by: Kristi F Lefebvre
Category: News
Tags
Dec
08
Now that the Legislature has completed work on the state's FY '21 budget, it will make one last push on passing legislation before the session ends on January 5, 2021.
 
The LSPA's bill S. 594, which would require insurance companies to provide first- and third-party coverage for home heating oil releases, is still under consideration in the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means. We only have four weeks to get this bill a favorable report out of committee and approved by the full Senate before this session ends.
 
We are asking for one last push by our members who are Massachusetts residents. Please consider writing to your state senator to urge their support of the bill. The more requests from constituents, the more likely our bill will be a priority of the Senate. Check here to find your state senator.
If your state senator is a member the Senate Ways & Means Committee and/or a co-sponsor of the bill,
NOW is the time to get their attention. Attached here is a sample email you can send. All senators' email addresses are on their home page.
 
If your senator is not a committee member or a co-sponsor, you should still write to urge her/him to encourage the Senate Ways & Means Committee to issue a favorable report on the bill. Here is a sample email you can send. All senators' email addresses are on their home page.
 
If you have experience with a home heating oil release, especially one in which the homeowner did not have insurance or had a difficult time obtaining coverage, please consider sharing this experience in your letter. Real life examples are most compelling, especially if your client's property is in the district of one of these senators.
 
For more information about the bill, please read the LSPA's letter and fact sheet, as well as a supporting letter from five state environmental organizations.
 
Please contact our Executive Director Wendy Rundle at [email protected] if you have any questions.
 
Thank you for your support; we will keep LSPA members apprised.
 
 
LSPA Legislative Committee Co-Chairs
Spence Smith, LSP, Jacobs
Tim Clinton, LSP, Fuss & O'Neill