Three Democrat senators want to make “extreme” heat into a “disaster.” It sounds like more big government growth and spending.
Three Democratic lawmakers want to make extreme heat a “disaster.” Senators Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, along with Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia of Texas, have proposed legislation to classify extreme heat as a disaster, which would allow federal funding to flow into areas where hotter temperatures cause significant physical and economic distress. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York has signed on as a co-sponsor.
“Last year, more than 500 people died in one single county in Nevada from heat-related illnesses,” Rosen said in a statement. “Current federal policy ignores the physical and health risks that such extremely high temperatures have on our communities, which is why I’m introducing a bill to change that. By classifying extreme heat as a major disaster, our communities will be able to receive the federal funding needed to respond and prepare for future extreme heat events.”
It’s not the first time Rosen has proposed the legislation. She introduced a similar bill in 2024 that passed through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee rather quickly, before being blocked by a Senate Republican.
Under the Stafford Act, there are 16 types of natural disasters listed, defined as “any hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, high water, winddriven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, drought, fire, or other catastrophe in any part of the United States which causes, or which may cause, substantial damage or injury to civilian property or persons.” It does not explicitly list extreme heat.
However, if there is a crisis related to heat, there is funding. They want more and they want the federal taxpayer to pay more. The goal is to fund cooling centers, tree shade, and air conditioning through existing hazard mitigation grants in a heat event.
The rule has faced criticism from business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which says the rule would “impose unreasonable burdens.” Business groups have backed efforts in some Republican-led states, like Florida and Texas, to block local municipalities from passing heat protection rules for workers.
The Extreme Heat Emergency Act from Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, and Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada, would “explicitly authorize extreme heat as eligible for a Major Disaster Declaration” by the president of the United States under the Stafford Act, a 1980s law relating to weather events.
In a press release, Gallego said “extreme heat kills more Americans” annually than every other form of extreme weather combined.
Can extreme cold be far behind? The CDC says cold is the bigger killer. Maybe the left should stop telling us to give up oil, gas, and coal then?
Commie hysteric Jeff Markey is worried about illegal aliens suffering from heat and “greedy bosses” since he says they are the “backbone” of this country. Unions negotiate those conditions but Markey wants the big government to take it over and create a one size fits all rule.
No worker should have to risk injury or death from extreme heat. My Heat Stress Protection Act will guarantee workers water, shade, breaks, and basic safety. The thermometer’s rising—and workers can’t wait. pic.twitter.com/pOzk47bHiq
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) July 16, 2025
Democrats seem increasingly determined to make war on reality. There are reasons, throughout history, that sane, sensible people have chosen not to live in extreme, uninhabitable climate zones, including deserts. Air conditioning and huge dams and water reservoirs have mitigated this to some degree. But, even with AC and water reservoirs, seasonal heat persists.
exactly just like they claimed cow farts were responsible for global warming…
Right to the heart of the matter!!! “Democrats seem increasingly determined to make war on reality” Living in extreme subjective reality, Democrats want no one to know real life, otherwise known as objective reality. So they want an reference to it censored, or better yet destroyed. After all, freedom of speech threatens their lies (especially to themselves).
Yep, just another scam from democrats. What is “extreme heat” and who gets to define what it is? Seeing as how we’ve been lied to multiple times over the years by the “scientists” and “experts”. And I see of course they don’t include any details about how these people supposedly died from “extreme heat”. Probably because that would decimate their… Read more »