Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in California. As heat waves become more frequent, more severe, and longer-lasting due to climate change, addressing extreme heat is emerging as a priority across the state. For those with asthma, a lack of cooling in their homes creates additional challenges during wildfire smoke events. Asthma home visitors report working with families that have to decide between opening their windows exposing them to smoke in order to cool their homes or keeping the smoke out but risk heat exhaustion, heat stroke, or other heat-related illness. To advance our work on extreme heat, with Western Center on Law and Poverty, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, and Leadership Counsel, we were able to get funding in the state budget for the CA Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to identify a safe maximum indoor temperature for housing and to provide policy recommendations to the legislature based on their results. Unfortunately, HCD’s policy recommendations were not specific, actionable, nor equity-focused. As a result, we are working with partners to develop our own specific, actionable, impactful policy solutions to address the growing health equity impacts of extreme heat on low-income renters. As a first successful step, we worked with CA Senator Stern’s office to establish a state priority to ensure homes can maintain a safe indoor temperature in SB 655, which the Governor signed into law in 2025.
