For parents planning to send their children to summer camp, many may be out of luck.
According to the DSHS’s database of active youth summer camps, only nine camps have gotten an updated license for 2026, with another 243 having applied but not yet receiving approval.
In April, DSHS sent Camp Mystic Lake Cypress an 11-page letter worth of deficiencies in their safety plans in response to their application to open, one of hundreds that received similar letter. Many of the deficiencies are related to Senate Bill 1and House Bill 1 According to DSHS Lara Anton, “This is a part of the licensing application review process, and most youth camps have received a notice of deficiency letter for their emergency plan due to the statutory changes and increased emergency plan requirements.”
Republican Wes Virdell and a bipartisan group of nine other state representatives signed a letter asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to address some of the areas camps are struggling to comply with. Specifically, Virdell would like the legislature to work on removing ambiguous regulatory language; lowering compliance costs; increasing implementation timelines; lowering newly increased camp fees to DSHS; differentiating risk between types of camps; and strengthening guidance for emergency preparedness requirements.
One of the key provisions Virdell has taken issue with one is requiring camps to have two internet connections, with one of them being end-to-end fiber.
Over 150 camps reported having either no access to fiber connections or fiber being too cost prohibitive.
State Rep. Drew Darbyand and State Sen. Charles Perry also sent DSHS a letter asking DSHS to take a harder look at the fiber requirement’s implementation and to delay the effective rule date to September 2027, allowing the Texas Legislature time to address any problems.
Nineteen camps have filed a lawsuit, with several reporting not being able to install fiber at all. The lawsuit claims AT&T told one camp “the estimated cost required to complete the build would exceed $1.2 million.”
State Rep. Pat Curry posted on social media that DSHS told him “no camps will be closed this summer due to broadband deficiencies but they would be in violation of the new rules and deficiency notices would be issued within the next 45-60 days and can undergo the administrative appeals process during which time affected camps can continue operating under the previous year’s licenses.
DSHS declined comment on pending litigation.