Lawmakers are about to return to Richmond and consider hundreds of bills, including some that make requirements on landlords.
Should landlords in Virginia be required to turn on air conditioning if the temperature tops 77 degrees in the summer? What about when the temperature drops below 68 degrees in the winter? Should they be required to turn on the heat?
Senator Barbara Favola has a bill to cool heated concerns.
"Maybe it should not be quite as date driven. Maybe we should be looking at temperature, as well as the seasonal framework for both heating and cooling," she explains. "It's a common complaint. I mean, it's one of the issues that constituents write to me about."
A similar bill last year was vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, who says mandating temperature requirements would impose a significant financial burden on owners.
"I don't see how it would impose additional financial burden on owners," says Andrew Clark at the Virginia Homebuilders Association. "I mean, there are a lot of different factors that are driving up rents and home prices, and we don't see this particular requirement as imposing significant financial burden on owners."
Favola's bill would create a stakeholder group to evaluate what kind of temperature regulation is required of landlords in Virginia's building code.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
