Heaven 27 Camp Safety Act Advances in Texas After Emotional Parent Testimony

A landmark piece of legislation, Senate Bill 1, now renamed the “Heaven 27 Camp Safety Act,” has unanimously advanced from the Texas Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding. The bill’s progression follows a deeply emotional hearing on Wednesday where grieving parents of children who died in the tragic July 4, 2025, Camp Mystic flood delivered heart-wrenching testimony, demanding immediate action to prevent future tragedies.

Families recounted the devastating loss of their young children, emphasizing that the 27 Camp Mystic deaths were a result of preventable failures, not merely an act of nature. Cici Williams Steward, mother of 8-year-old Cile Steward—whose body remains unrecovered—shared a particularly poignant account, underscoring the betrayed trust in camp safety assurances. The search for Cile Steward is still ongoing.

The comprehensive Heaven 27 Camp Safety Act proposes significant overhauls to youth camp regulations. Key provisions include mandatory evacuation of campers upon flood warnings, a ban on new cabins in floodplains, and the requirement for emergency rooftop access ladders in existing floodplain cabins. The bill also mandates clearer display of evacuation routes and requires detailed emergency plans to be shared with local emergency coordinators and parents.

Lawmakers also scrutinized the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) over its current oversight, noting that the agency does not retain copies of camp emergency plans and was reportedly unaware of Camp Mystic’s significant increase in bed capacity prior to the flood. State Senator Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, who chairs the committee, assured the affected families that the legislation would drastically change how camps operate and are licensed, prioritizing camper safety above all else. If passed, the bill’s provisions are set to take effect before the next summer camp season.

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