Sen. Charles Schumer says federal funding for low-income heating assistance will increase by $169 million in the coming fiscal year, to a total of $3.4 billion.

Schumer had called on appropriators to increase funding in light of record low temperatures last week.

Schumer said the heating assistance program has been underfunded for the past several years, despite steady increases in heating costs over the past decade. He said hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers rely on the funding to help pay for what’s becoming a larger and larger share of their budget.

New York families whose incomes are 150 percent of the federal poverty level or lower are eligible for heating aid.

(AP)