SPRINGFIELD – To ensure property owners who limit rental, ownership or occupancy to people ages 55 and up have ample heating and cooling, State Senator Mike Simmons advanced a House bill out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

“Senior residents are at a higher risk for heat stroke during summer months,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “This bill will hold landlords, condominium associations and other property owners accountable in ensuring our older resident neighbors, both in the 7th District and across the state, live in safe and humane housing conditions.”

House Bill 2562 changes the Common Interest Community Association Act, the Condominium Property Act and the Landlord and Tenant Act to provide heating and cooling standards for properties that limit their ownership, rental and occupancy to people 55 years old or older. Between June 1 and Sept. 30, cooling systems must operate when the heat exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Between Oct. 1 and May 31 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., heat must register at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit when the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., heat must register at least 62 degrees Fahrenheit. If the property does not have a building-wide cooling system for individual units, then at least one indoor common gathering space with a cooling system must be provided.

“No one should live in a residence that is too cold in the winter and sweltering in the summer, especially those at a higher health risk,” Simmons said. “Safe, accessible and operational housing is a basic human right.”

This bill is correlated with Simmons’ Senate Bill 2013, which requires any residential building that is state-funded to meet minimum standard of living conditions to continue receiving funding from the program and was inspired when three residents of a Rogers Park senior living complex tragically died of suspected heat exhaustion.

House Bill 2562 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.