Top lawmakers back lifting camp safety law Top Texas legislators are pushing to waive a new state law that requires camps to install broadband fiber optics in order to legally operate this summer, The Dallas Morning News reported. Scores of camps are struggling to meet the deadline. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows released a statement last week saying they support lifting the law.
Nearly 20 camps have sued to block the law requiring them to install a fiber-optic network, arguing that it does not make their properties safer and would cost millions of dollars. So far only nine Texas summer camps are licensed to open, with fewer than two weeks before the season begins. Nearly 300 are still working to obtain licenses. The Department of State Health Services said last week that camps will be allowed to operate under existing licenses while their applications are reviewed.
The laws were passed in the aftermath of last year’s July 4 flooding, which killed more than two dozen campers at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River. In addition to fiber optic networks, camps must install emergency warning and public address systems and provide safety training for campers.
