Bill > S537

Introduced Session

This bill requires that the temperature within emergency shelters, rooming and boarding houses, nursing homes, and residential health care facilities be maintained within a range of 65 through 81 degrees Fahrenheit. This standard would not apply to nursing facilities, or to residential health care facilities that are owned by a licensed health care facility and licensed by the Department of Health, that are in compliance with the federal regulatory requirements for nursing homes participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which currently requires certain facilities to maintain a temperature range of 71 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature requirements in this bill would apply to areas of the facilities that are used by the residents or patients. The temperature requirements would not apply to rooms designated for activities requiring physical exertion, or rooms where residents can individually control the temperature in their own living units, independent from other areas. In the case of nursing homes and residential health care facilities, current law permits the Commissioner of Health to waive certain air conditioning requirements if compliance with the requirements would cause serious financial hardship, or if the nursing home or residential health care facility has not been constructed or expanded since August 17, 1989. This bill does not remove these existing waivers of the temperature control requirements. The bill permits the commissioner to additionally grant a waiver to nursing homes or residential health care facilities in the case of an unusual event resulting from causes outside the control of the facility, including a government-declared state of emergency or disaster, which results in the facility being unable to maintain the temperature requirements provided in the bill.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Richard Codey (D)*,  John McKeon (D)*,  Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D)*,  Patrick Diegnan (D),  Linda Greenstein (D),  Mila Jasey (D),  Nellie Pou (D), 

Approved P.L.2021, c.260. (on 11/08/2021)

Official Document