SPRINGFIELD –State Senator Mike Simmons advanced a measure to provide safer heating and cooling standards for homes in 55 and up communities.

“Every resident in our state should live with the confidence that their housing conditions are safe,” said Simmons (D-Chicago). “It is our responsibility to ensure our older resident neighbors, both in the 7th District and across the state, live in safe and humane housing conditions.” 

House Bill 2562 would create 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 would be required to operate when the heat exceeds 80 degrees. Between Oct. 1 and May 31 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., heat would have to register at least 68 degrees when the outside temperature falls below 55 degrees, and between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., heat would be required to register at least 62 degrees. 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.

This bill is in tandem 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, including proper air-conditioning and heating. That measure was inspired when three residents of a Rogers Park senior living complex tragically died of suspected heat exhaustion last May. SB2013 ensures all residents of state-supported affordable housing have adequate cooling in the hot months and heating in the colder months, while HB2562 extends those protections to residents of condo buildings and all other buildings that house residents 55 years of age and older. 

“No one should have to gamble their life over operational housing,” Simmons said. “This bill is not a comfort bill – this bill protects the well-being of some of our most vulnerable populations.”

House Bill 2562 passed the Senate.