FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2025
Contact:
Anne Di Grazie, Anne.DiGrazia@sen.ca.gov, Office of Senator Henry Stern
Jill Hindenach, jhindenach@leadershipcounsel.org, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability
California Establishes First-in-the-Nation Policy for Safe Indoor Temperatures
SB 655 will require the state to ensure that all residential units can maintain a safe maximum indoor temperature to protect Californians—especially renters and low-income households—from the impacts of worsening extreme heat.
SACRAMENTO, CA – Yesterday, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 655 (SB 655), authored by Senator Henry Stern, a first-in-the-nation framework to set maximum safe indoor temperature standards in residential housing. This bill requires state agencies to achieve this standard in the face of worsening extreme heat, now the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States. While California’s residential building standards have long required that homes maintain a minimum indoor air temperature of 68°F, there is no requirement for a maximum indoor temperature—leaving residents vulnerable during increasingly severe heat waves.
“SB 655 responds to the public health emergency of California’s deadly heat waves,” said Senator Stern. “This bill proactively requires the state to include safe residential indoor temperatures in its policies and programs so that Californians, especially renters and low-income households who are most at risk, have life-saving cooling.”
California’s climate crisis is accelerating: from 2010 to 2019, extreme heat is estimated to have resulted in nearly 4,000 deaths. By 2050, as heat waves grow hotter and more frequent, extreme heat could result in 11,300 deaths annually, becoming the seventh leading cause of death in the state. In addition to mortality, heat has driven over 150,000 emergency-room and outpatient visits and hospitalizations since 2013, with disproportionate impacts on Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income communities.
“We thank Senator Stern’s leadership and the California Legislature for protecting public health and ensuring equitable cooling through SB 655,” said Jovana Morales-Tilgren, Housing and Land Use Policy Manager, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “Vulnerable and disadvantaged communities are at the intersection of climate risk and systemic inequality and have fewer resources to protect against extreme heat and heat-related illnesses. This bill will save lives.”
Through SB 655, heat pump technology can be expanded to provide highly efficient clean cooling. Heat pumps can deliver 3-5 times more cooling or heating for every unit of electricity consumed. This efficiency means that heat pumps can lower household energy bills compared to older, less efficient air conditioners or gas furnaces—particularly when installed in well-insulated homes. By establishing a framework for maximum indoor temperatures, this bill can help mandate cooling and make heat pump technology accessible to renters and low-income families, reducing both health risks and climate emissions.
“We commend Senator Stern and the Legislature for their leadership on SB 655 and their recognition that protecting Californians from extreme heat is a matter of life and health—especially for working-class communities who face the greatest risks,” said Beckie Menten, California Director, Building Decarbonization Coalition. “Heat pumps can provide clean, reliable, and affordable cooling and we look forward to seeing this policy ensure that those most vulnerable to extreme heat will benefit from this vital technology.”
Co-sponsored by Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability and supported by the Building Decarbonization Coalition, SB 655 now moves to the Governor for consideration by October 12.
###
Senator Henry Stern is a dedicated environmental champion and Angeleno who proudly represents the 27th Senate District, spanning from Los Angeles to Ventura County. First elected in November 2016, Senator Stern has been at the forefront of legislating sustainable practices and protecting California’s natural resources.
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability works alongside the most impacted communities in the San Joaquin Valley and Eastern Coachella Valley to advocate for sound policy and eradicate injustice to secure equal access to opportunity regardless of wealth, race, income, and place. Leadership Counsel focuses on issues like housing, land use, transportation, safe and affordable drinking water and climate change impacts on communities.
The Building Decarbonization Coalition (BDC) aligns critical stakeholders on a path to transform the nation’s buildings through clean energy, using policy, research, market development, and public engagement. The BDC and its members are charting the course to eliminate fossil fuels in buildings to improve people’s health, cut climate and air pollution, prioritize high-road jobs, and ensure that our communities are more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Learn more at www.buildingdecarb.org.