Governor Hobbs declared a heat emergency releasing some money (about $200K) to reimburse counties for their heat release work this summer. The declaration
While the media coverage has mostly focused on the emergency declaration… Hobbs also signed an executive order that’s of potentially more public health consequence than the emergency declaration.
That Executive Order (not the emergency declaration) requires ADHS, ADOA, ADEM and the Governor’s Office of Resiliency to develop a written report with recommendations to improve the heat relief system in future summers. The reports are due on March 1, 2024.
ADHS’ tasks are supposed to describe where the heat relief stations should be and look at resource allocation changes needed in emergency departments, heat related workplace incidents, and morgue capacity. The report is also supposed to come up with a plan for more formalized & centralized statewide cooling centers. The report is supposed to include recommended statutory changes.
The Department of Administration (ADOA) is supposed to create a plan to better use state buildings and property for heat relief cooling centers and change personnel rules so that state workers could staff heat relief centers and have the time count toward their job.
The Governor’s Office of Resiliency and the Department of Emergency & Military Affairs are required to coordinate the comprehensive overall plan.
See the Executive Order
It’ll be interesting to see the quality of the reports that are due March 1, 2024. If the reports are detailed and actionable and IF those recommendations are translated into policy and funded, the plan has a chance to make substantive heat adaptation improvements.
