Arizona Congressman Greg Stanton is launching a new Extreme Heat Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.
2024 was Phoenix’s hottest year on record. And heat-related deaths have skyrocketed in the last decade in Maricopa County, with 602 heat-related deaths last year.
Stanton said as dangerous heat waves become more frequent, the issue deserves bipartisan attention.
“Obviously, in Arizona we face it more intensely than anywhere else in the country, but extreme heat is hitting all different parts of the country and we need to have a response plan to deal with this,” Stanton told KJZZ.
Stanton, a Democrat, is co-chairing the Extreme Heat Caucus with New York Republican Mike Lawler. The caucus also includes representatives from Colorado, Nevada, Louisiana, Oregon and California.
Stanton said forming a caucus allows the lawmakers not only to look for common ground on pieces of legislation, but also creates more opportunities for them to study the risks of heat.
“We can have experts in the field come and talk to us so we can become better educated on the issue so that it leads to stronger legislation,” Stanton said.
Stanton said one of the group’s priorities will be to ensure funding from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program gets to people needing help with air conditioning costs.
He said the caucus will also pursue legislation to allow FEMA to provide more assistance for heat events.
