Overview

• The House passed House Bill 1 on a 136-1 vote to require state-filed emergency plans for youth camps, disclose floodplain risks to parents, and bar licensing for camps with cabins in 100-year floodplains.
• Senate Bill 1 cleared a Senate committee and is slated for floor consideration Thursday night, with provisions to trigger evacuation on National Weather Service flood warnings, post routes in cabins, add rooftop exits in flood zones, and mandate training and drills.
• Parents organized as the Campaign for Camp Safety delivered emotional testimony, with several saying the deaths were preventable; one camper, 8-year-old Cile Steward, remains missing.
• Lawmakers and families cited operational lapses at Camp Mystic, including instructions not to evacuate cabins as waters rose, and noted a 2013 FEMA map change that removed 15 camp buildings from the special flood hazard area.
• Related measures advanced, including a funding bill sending $240 million for disaster needs with $50 million for sirens and rain gauges, $28 million for forecasting, and $50 million for emergency communications, while separate warning and response bills moved through both chambers.