SE Valley Times

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has enacted a new law ensuring mobile-home owners can install cooling measures, following significant research by Arizona State University's (ASU) Knowledge Exchange for Resilience. This interdisciplinary center collaborated with local communities for over five years to address the extreme heat issues affecting mobile homes in the Valley.

Patricia Solis, executive director of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience, emphasized their close collaboration with mobile-home residents to understand their vulnerability to extreme heat. The resulting data led to legislation preventing landlords from denying tenants the right to install air conditioning or other cooling measures. Governor Hobbs signed this into law as an emergency measure on April 2.

"This is an inspiring example of what can happen when you work on the issues that come from the community," Solis stated. She added, "This is what the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience was established for."

The urgency of this issue is underscored by statistics showing that while mobile homes constitute 5% of housing in Maricopa County, they account for 30% to 40% of indoor heat deaths annually. Research indicated that mobile-home dwellers who died from heat were often without air conditioning or had their electricity cut off.

The project began in 2018 with funding from the Virginia G. Piper Trust and involved working with utility assistance groups. ASU's team cross-referenced utility assistance data with Maricopa County's heat-related death records, revealing high mortality rates in mobile-home communities.

Solis explained, "We did the math and, sure enough, there are many reasons that people who live in mobile-home parks are more vulnerable to extreme heat." Factors included older age demographics, solitary living situations, lower incomes, and dense housing conditions exacerbating heat retention.

To further investigate risk factors, ASU partnered with advocacy group Arizona Association of Manufactured Home, RV & Park Model Owners. They discovered residents' inability to directly access utility services due to leasing land rather than owning it outright.

In response to these findings and resident feedback about landlord restrictions on cooling installations, ASU shared its research with Wildfire AZ. This Phoenix-based organization crafted bill HB2146 with support from Rep. David Cook and successfully lobbied it through legislative processes.

Maxine Becker from Wildfire AZ remarked on bipartisan support: "They saw that this was something where the Legislature could intervene on behalf of people who are struggling in these mobile-home parks."

Despite passing unanimously through both houses, challenges remain regarding indoor heat-associated deaths among those who do not use available air conditioning due to cost concerns.

The ASU center continues offering resources like a guide for handling power outages during hot weather. Student Britnie Britton contributed significantly by co-authoring this guide and participating in broader efforts such as Governor Hobbs' Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan and presentations at national policy summits.

Britton noted her experience collaborating across state agencies towards common goals: "It was a highlight of the past year...to help support the executive order and how we can save lives in the summer to come."