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Committee hears bill to let tenants install portable cooling devices during extreme heat
Summary
Sen. Vandana Slatter described SB 6,200 as a narrowly targeted health-and-housing bill to allow tenants to install portable cooling devices with guardrails (inspection, notice, safety and electrical limits). Advocates called it a life-saving measure; property managers raised insurance, safety and lease-change concerns and asked for technical fixes.
Sen. Vandana Slatter, sponsor of Senate Bill 6,200, told the House Housing Committee that the bill is "basically a housing and health bill" aimed at preventing heat-related illness and death among renters by allowing tenants to install safe, portable cooling devices with clear guardrails. "This bill protects older adults, people living alone, infants, residents on heat-sensitive medication, and communities in heat burden neighborhoods," Slatter said on Feb. 23.
Audrey Vacek, committee staff, summarized the bill's key provisions: landlords under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act and the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act could not prohibit tenants from installing portable cooling devices except where the dwelling already has a functioning heat pump, installation would violate code or safety guidelines, cause unreasonable damage or render the…
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