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Senate
SB364 / File No. 54 1
General Assembly File No. 54
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 364
Senate, March 18, 2026
The Committee on Public Health reported through SEN.
ANWAR of the 3rd Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the
part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING EXTREME WEATHER PROTOCOLS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026 ) Not later than January 1, 1
2027, the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security 2
within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection 3
shall (1) develop, in consultation with the Office of the Governor and 4
municipal leaders, (A) standardized extreme hot and cold weather 5
protocols that include, but are not limited to, weather factors, such as 6
temperatures, heat index and wind chill, that will prompt the state and 7
municipalities to require the opening of cooling centers and warming 8
centers throughout the state, and (B) methods for accessing 9
transportation to such centers and communicating such protocols to the 10
public, (2) post such protocols on the division's Internet web site, and 11
(3) provide such protocols to the 2-1-1 Infoline program operated by the 12
United Way of Connecticut. 13
SB364 File No. 54
SB364 / File No. 54 2
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section
PH Joint Favorable
SB364 File No. 54
SB364 / File No. 54 3
The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Various State Agencies GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
All Municipalities Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill may result in increased costs to the state and municipalities
to the extent the standard protocols required under the bill lead to more
extreme weather activations than under current practice. For context
costs associated with increased activations may include, but are not
limited to, municipalities opening more cooling or warming centers, the
Department of Social Services supporting additional rides for members
via non -emergency medical transportation, an d the Department of
Housing supporting hoteling.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the increase in extreme weather
activations.
SB364 File No. 54
SB364 / File No. 54 4
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 364
AN ACT CONCERNING EXTREME WEATHER PROTOCOLS.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Emergency Services and Public
Protection (D ESPP) Division of Emergency Management and
Homeland Security to develop the following:
1. standardized extreme hot and cold weather protocols that
include weather factors (e.g., temperatures, heat index, and wind
chill) that will prompt the state and municipalities to require
cooling and warming centers to open statewide;
2. ways to access transportation to these centers; and
3. ways to communicate the protocols to the public.
The division must do this by January 1, 2027, and in consultation with
the governor’s office and municipal leaders.
Under the bill, the division must also post the protocols on its website
and give them to the United Way of Connecticut’s 2 -1-1 Infoline
program. (In practice, DESPP posts extreme weather protocols on its
website.)
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Health Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 22 Nay 9 (03/09/2026)