Representative Sean Garballey filed a bill in the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Jan. 15, 2025, that would create a statewide low‑income cooling assistance program, restrict utility shutoffs during extreme heat or hazardous air quality, commission a public‑health study of residential temperature limits, and establish an interagency extreme heat task force.

The bill, titled “An Act promoting resilience against the heat‑related impacts of climate change” and filed as House Bill No. 3495 (House Docket No. 1944), would direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to operate, subject to appropriation, a low‑income cooling assistance program that may assist with payment of cooling‑related electricity bills and distribute energy‑efficient cooling appliances. Eligible households would be those with income at or below 60 percent of state median income, with priority for households that include a “vulnerable person” — defined in the bill as someone 65 or older, under five years old, or a person with a medical condition that increases heat‑related risk, including cardiovascular disease, obesity or diabetes.

The bill would amend section 124F of chapter 164 of the General Laws to prohibit a gas or electric company from terminating residential service used for space cooling when certain conditions apply: a National Weather Service forecast for the next 48 hours shows a heat index of 95 degrees Fahrenheit or above in the company’s service area; a forecast indicates a heat index of 95°F or above during an upcoming holiday or weekend; or the Department of Environmental Protection or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency forecasts an Air Quality Index of 151 or above in the utility’s service territory.

The Department of Public Health, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, would be required to study whether to amend the state sanitary code (promulgated under section 127A of chapter 111) to incorporate maximum temperature requirements for habitable rooms and rooms containing sanitation fixtures. That study must consider public‑health effects, environmental justice, housing affordability and resilience, and the department must submit a report with findings and recommendations to the Legislature by Dec. 31, 2026.

The bill also calls for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to establish an extreme heat task force. The task force’s membership, as laid out in the bill, would include cabinet secretaries or designees, legislative leaders or designees, representatives from planning and public‑health institutions, labor and school associations, a representative from a Gateway City, a representative from an environmental justice community and the Massachusetts Municipal Association. The task force would be charged with developing heat‑emergency declaration criteria, best practices for state, regional and local responses, a strategic plan to integrate cooling solutions into existing programs and annual reporting on progress; it would also be asked to suggest legislative and regulatory changes to improve coordination across government, schools and nonprofits.

The bill directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer the cooling assistance program in partnership with community action agencies and to coordinate outreach with councils on aging, federally qualified health centers, community development corporations and local housing authorities. It would require an annual departmental report to relevant legislative committees summarizing applicants, accepted applications, partner entities and program costs. The bill allows the department to promulgate regulations to administer and enforce the section.

Representative Garballey introduced the bill with Representative Sean Reid added as a petitioner. The filing lists Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy as the committee reference on the docket; other implementing and oversight committees are named within the bill text for reporting requirements.

As filed, the measure is a legislative proposal and requires committee consideration, appropriation and possible amendment before any programmatic or regulatory changes would take effect.