Latest news with #StanGerdes
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A $20 billion effort to avoid calamity: Here's what Texas lawmakers did to save the state's water supply
Texas lawmakers took steps big and small to help save the state's water supply. A big one: investing $20 billion in water projects over the next two decades. A small one: banning homeowners' associations from punishing residents who don't have bright green lawns. The state's water supply is in peril. Legislators saw this year as their last chance to invest before the state faces calamity. Rapid population growth, aging infrastructure and extreme climate events like drought and flood have put pressure on the state's lakes and rivers. A Texas Tribune analysis found that cities and towns could be on a path toward a severe water shortage by 2030 if there is recurring, record-breaking drought conditions across the state, and if water entities and state leaders fail to put in place key strategies to secure water supplies. 'One of the great things about the legislative session around water is it is more of a bipartisan issue,' said Jennifer Walker, director for the Texas Coast and Water program with the National Wildlife Federation. 'And there's a great community of folks working together to find solutions.' Here's a look at some of the actions lawmakers took on water. A significant victory was House Bill 29 by Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, which targets water loss in large utilities with over 150,000 service connections. The bill requires regular water loss audits, external validation of the data, and the development of mitigation plans. Utilities that fail to comply face administrative fees. 'We need to make sure that we are using the water supplies that we already have as efficiently as possible,' Walker said. A recent report by the National Wildlife Federation found that 516 water utilities plan to save over 270,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2034 — enough water to meet the annual water needs of 1.7 million Texans — through conservation strategies like leak detection and minimizing water loss. Another bill, House Bill 517 by Rep. Caroline Harris Davila, R-Round Rock, prohibits homeowners' associations from penalizing residents for having brown or dormant lawns when water use is restricted. This bill would ensure that homeowner associations participate in water conservation measures. It was signed by the governor and goes into effect Sept. 1. One bill by Sen. Juan 'Chuy' Hinojosa seeks to address flood mitigation and drought concerns. Senate Bill 1967 expands what kinds of projects that can be awarded money from the flood infrastructure fund. Starting Sept. 1, money will be eligible for projects that construct multi-purpose flood mitigation systems and drainage infrastructure systems to use flood, storm and agricultural runoff water as an additional source of water supply once it's treated. This bill will be especially helpful in South Texas, where there is ongoing drought and a rapidly growing population. The Delta Region Water Management Project, which Chuy discussed during legislative hearings, aims to address its water problems by capturing and treating water. Senate Bill 1253 by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, requires local subdivisions to provide credits for water and wastewater impact fees, which are one-time charges to a company developing in an area. The fees will be waived for new developments that incorporate conservation and reuse strategies. The goal, Walker said, is to encourage smarter growth that puts less of a strain on existing water infrastructure. This bill is awaiting the governor's signature. Lawmakers approved $7.5 million to support groundwater conservation districts in collecting better data and conducting scientific research. Groundwater — water that is trapped between rock formations under ground — makes up more than half of Texas' overall water supply. The state water plan projects a decline by 32% by 2070, which will make water even more scarce for communities that depend on groundwater. The Texas Water Development Board, the state agency that oversees Texas' water supply and funding, will administer grants to local groundwater districts — particularly those with limited budgets — to carry out projects focused on groundwater modeling, data collection, and science-based planning. Vanessa Puig-Williams, senior director of climate resilient water systems at Environmental Defense Fund, said Texas lacks localized data that helps groundwater districts understand how to manage and plan. 'This kind of information would allow them to make better permitting decisions, better planning decisions as part of the desired future condition process, and helps to improve our regional water planning process,' Puig-Williams said. She added that 68% of Texas' groundwater conservation districts operate on annual budgets under $500,000 and have struggled to fund robust scientific research. In a related move, the Legislature also included a provision in the new infrastructure package that restricts public funds from being used to export fresh groundwater from rural areas — aimed at protecting local aquifers and the communities that depend on them. Lawmakers also took strides toward ensuring the quality of Texas' water is protected. House Bill 3333 by state Rep. Eddie Morales prohibits the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality from issuing new wastewater discharge permits into The Devils River in Val Verde County. The river contributes 30% to Lake Amistad, which supplies water to the Rio Grande River. Senate Bill 1302, by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, brings more changes for the state's environmental agency. Currently, if a facility or entity has its permit to dispose of wastewater suspended due to violations, they can later reapply through the system and get an automated approval. Kolkhorst called it a loophole. Beginning Sept. 1, Texas law will prohibit these facilities from obtaining a discharge permit until it is actively authorized by the TCEQ executive director. The bill also prohibits the executive director from using an automatic process to authorize the use of a general permit. Kolkhorst referenced a sand mine discharging waste into the water at Cook's Conservatory and how the permit was denied. However, it was later secured through the same process. Even as lawmakers showed interest in solutions for the water crisis, several bills researching different methods died in the legislative process. One is House Bill 1501 by state Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington. The bill would have instructed the Texas State University Meadows Center for Water and the Environment to study the feasibility of seawater desalination processes. House Bill 3728 by Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, D-Houston, which would have required salinity studies and standards to protect coastal bays and estuaries from seawater desalination, failed to pass. Walker said it highlighted growing concerns about the environmental impacts of desalination. 'It's a delicate balance,' Walker said. 'If we screw it up, we risk having problems with the habitat for the plants and animals that are there — and it may be difficult or expensive or impossible to fix. We need to go in with our eyes wide open and make good choices so we can have water for our communities without damaging our coastal ecosystems.' Disclosure: Environmental Defense Fund has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Newsweek
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Map Shows States With Most Furry Conventions
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Furries have recently faced legislative backlash in Texas, where House Bill 4814 would "prohibit any non-human behavior by a student, including presenting himself or herself, on days other than exempt days, as anything other than a human being." New convention center data has revealed that Texas is among the states with the largest number of furry events scheduled for the 2025 calendar year. Why It Matters Furries are a subculture of people who enjoy dressing up as and impersonating animals, and in rare cases, choose to self-identify as belonging to a non-human species. Following a "furry related incident" in the Smithville, Texas school district, state legislators banned "non-human behavior" like using a litter box, wearing leashes, collars or false tails, "barking, meowing, hissing, or other animal noises that are not human speech" and "licking oneself or others for the purpose of grooming." What To Know Texas has emerged as one of the furriest states in the union, hosting four furry events in one year across several different cities, including Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Washington, California, and North Carolina also led the community with four conventions each, according to data from a convention aggregator. Wisconsin has three scheduled, as does Oregon, making the West Coast the most active area for the furry subculture. Twenty-three states did not appear to be hosting any conventions. However, that still means that the majority of states in the union will hold furry gatherings this year. No conventions were recorded in Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico, meaning that all gatherings were confined to the U.S. mainland. What People Are Saying Texas Representative Stan Gerdes said in response to reports of furry activity in school: "I can't believe we have to do this, but we cannot allow these types of roleplaying distractions to affect our students who are trying to learn or our teachers and administrators who are trying to teach. We just have to keep this nonsense out of our schools." He continued: "I fully expect the subculture to show up in full furry vengeance at the committee hearing. But just to be clear—they won't be getting any litter boxes in the Texas Capitol. They'll have to use the regular restrooms like the humans they are." What Happens Next As of May, five furry conventions have been announced across four different states for 2026, in Washington, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Ohio. Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact LiveNews@
The Guardian
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Does your child identify as a cat? There's a man in Texas who can help
M ove over, Wagatha Christie: Furlock Holmes is investigating 'non-human behaviour' in Texas schools. A Republican state representative called Stan Gerdes recently filed a bill called the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Educational Spaces (FURRIES) Act, which would ban schoolkids from acting like animals. No hissing during history, no meowing during maths, and absolutely no relieving yourself in a litter box during lunch break, according to the FURRIES Act. Are animal impersonations a serious issue in Texas's schools? Gerdes insists so, noting in a press release that he had heard reports of a 'furry-related incident' in at least one school. When pressed on the issue, however, he was unable to provide any actual evidence of schools providing litter boxes for students who identify as felines. This, of course, is because there aren't any examples. Nevertheless, the myth that schools are hotbeds of cat-litter-based activity has been circulating for years, amplified by numerous Republicans and conservative influencers. I should note that, having investigated the matter back in 2022, NBC News was able to find one example of a school that had cat litter in its classrooms. But you know why that was? It was part of an emergency supply kit in case kids were locked in a classroom for an extended amount of time during a school shooting. There were 56 school shootings in the US last year, by the way. Furries weren't responsible for any of them. I am sure there are people out there so indoctrinated by Fox News and internet brain-rot that they sincerely believe teachers are trying to turn innocent schoolchildren into cats. But I highly doubt Gerdes is one of them. Rather, this all seems to be a cynical attempt to attack public (state) schools and justify defunding them. Tellingly, Texas governor Greg Abbott referenced the FURRIES Act during a recent speech in which he was trying to promote a bill (which has now passed) that would allow for taxpayer money to be used to help certain students pay for private school tuition. Distracting your gullible voters with culture war nonsense so you can pass legislation that will make the rich richer and hurt the most vulnerable? It's a Republican tail as old as time. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will Florida follow behind Texas with litter box legislation for public schools?
When looking to see what's on the horizon for bad governance in Florida, it's a good idea to look toward Texas. Legislative actions enacted in the Lone Star State frequently serve as inspiration for Florida lawmakers. It was Texas that passed the near-abortion-ban bill that Florida copied. It was Texas that gave Florida lawmakers the idea to make it illegal for local jurisdictions to mandate water breaks for outside workers during the summer months. And it was Texas that gave Florida the idea to cast aside First Amendment concerns by allowing religious chaplains to serve as counselors in public schools. It's a two-way street. Sometimes Texas lawmakers adopt our bad ideas, like the way Texas copied our laws against vaccine mandates. And sometimes we work on bad ideas at the same time – like the 'chemtrails' legislation going on currently in both state legislatures. The 'chemtrails' bills imagine that sinister government 'theys' are intentionally poisoning us from the skies, and controlling the paths of hurricanes for political reasons. Laws based on unfounded conspiracy theories are a shared passion with Florida and Texas. Texas shares Florida love of conspiracy based legislation with FURRIES Act But I gotta say that Texas recently took a giant leap ahead of Florida. And it makes me concerned that this is what we'll be seeing soon in our state. Opinion: Gov. DeSantis, Florida lawmakers help spread 'chemtrails' conspiracy theory I'm talking about the FURRIES Act, a piece of legislation that's backed by Texas' governor and is moving through the state legislature. FURRIES stands for "Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education". The legislation is based on the imaginary occurrences of public schools providing litter boxes for students who identify as cats. The FURRIES Act in Texas would make it illegal for students 'using a litter box for the passing of stool, urine, or other human byproducts' in school. The bill also bans students from 'licking oneself or others for the purpose of grooming or maintenance.' It's silent on coughing up hairballs. The primary sponsor of the bill, Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes, can't name a single school in Texas, which is a really big state, where litter boxes were installed in student restrooms or classrooms. But that didn't stop him. 'I was informed that this is happening in districts across the state, and they do not have tools to prohibit these types of distractions," he said. Furries attend Anthrocon 2023, one of the world's largest anthropomorphic conventions celebrating the furry subculture, in which people dress up or roleplay as animal characters, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 2023. Public school aren't giving students kitty litter boxes. That doesn't matter to Texas nor Florida. It doesn't have to be true to be useful for Gov. Greg Abbott as he goes around the state championing school choice over traditional public schools. 'In some small rural sections of school districts in the state of Texas, they have in their schools, what are called furries,' Abbott told an audience of Christian pastors after the bill was filed. 'Kids go to school dressed up as cats with litter boxes in their classrooms.' The misinformation campaign over litter boxes in public schools to accommodate students who identify as cats began four years ago in Canada and has been spreading in right-wing circles – including by Vice President JD Vance in his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign – despite being debunked over and over again. Opinion Woke alert! Political indoctrination (right-wing) now on syllabus at New College You'd think there'd be just one photo or one principal owning up to it if it were real. The myth got a big boost by podcaster Joe Rogan, who told the millions in his audience that 'a friend's wife' told him all about the litter boxes in her school where she taught. When Rogan was pressed for details, the story fell apart, and he admitted, 'I don't think they actually did it.' A furry passes by some events near the windows during Phoenix Fan Fusion at the Convention Center downtown on May 24, 2024, in Phoenix. The litter box story has already popped up in Florida politics. Last year, Erika Picard, a Pinellas County School Board candidate aligned with the Moms for Liberty, used it as an example of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) run amok in public schools. 'When you hear about kids identifying as whatever, and we're now accommodating them with a kitty litter box in the bathroom, that's a problem,' Picard said at a candidate forum. 'And I have actually talked to families that have had that happen in their kids' classroom. It's insanity. It's crazy, right?' It's crazy, all right. And Texas is showing Florida the way. Once again. Get ready. If I were a betting man, I'd say some statewide kitty litter legislation is in our future. Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network-Florida. He can be reached via email at FCerabino@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Will Florida join Texas fight against 'FURRIES' in schools? | Opinion
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Author of Texas bill to ban 'furries' in schools cannot come up with examples of it happening
The Brief A Texas bill, known as the FURRIES Act, would ban non-human behaviors in public schools, including the use of litter boxes and wearing animal accessories. Rep. Stan Gerdes, the bill's author, claimed schools were providing litter boxes for students acting as "furries." When pressed, Gerdes could not find an example. The bill was left pending in committee. AUSTIN, Texas - The author of a bill that would ban non-human behavior in Texas public schools struggled to come up with examples of it actually happening when pressed during a committee meeting this week. On March 13, Rep. Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville) announced he had filed the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act. In a press release announcing the bill, he said he had heard reports of a "furry-related incident" at a Smithville ISD school. During a committee meeting for the bill this week, Gerdes said he called the superintendent and that the conversation was "extremely concerning." What they're saying "I was informed that this is happening in districts across the state, and they do not have tools to prohibit these types of distractions," Gerdes said. However, during a March 31 school board meeting, the district provided a release debunking those claims. "At this time, the District has no concerns related to students behaving as anything but typical children," the district said. "Rep. Gerdes contacted Superintendent Cheryl Burns to ask if there were any litter boxes for students on District campuses. Burns informed Rep. Gerdes that there were not, but as a courtesy to Rep. Gerdes, Mrs. Burns made the extra effort to walk the campus to confirm that there were no litter boxes." When asked directly about students using litter boxes at schools, Gerdes could not provide an example of a case where it had been confirmed. The representative says that his goal with the bill is to remove distractions from the classroom. "We just want to help them have the tools to get some of the distractions out of the classroom so we can get back to teaching time and stop the distractions," Gerdes said. Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) called the bill a concerning use of "debunked conspiracy theories" aimed at defunding public schools in the state. He said the "culture war attacks" were an effort to discredit public schools and justify defunding them. "Texas librarians are not grooming kids, Texas teachers are not indoctrinating kids and Texas schools are not providing litter boxes," Talarico said. "I think the most disappointing part about all this is, I think you know that." Gerdes said the bill wasn't about defaming or defunding schools. Lawmakers left the bill pending in committee. What we know The Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education, or FURRIES Act, prohibits students from engaging in "any non-human behavior," including presenting themselves as anything other than a human. Dig deeper According to the bill, examples of prohibited behaviors include: Using a litter box to relieve oneself Wearing non-human accessories, such as:TailsLeashesCollarsAccessories designed for petsFur (other than natural human hair or wigs)Animal-like earsItems not historically designed for humansMaking animal noises such as barking, meowing, or hissingLicking oneself for grooming Tails Leashes Collars Accessories designed for pets Fur (other than natural human hair or wigs) Animal-like ears Items not historically designed for humans Making animal noises such as barking, meowing, or hissing Licking oneself for grooming The bill states that students must present themselves as human and are also prohibited from: Creating organizations or clubs related to non-human behavior Promoting the belief that non-human behaviors are socially acceptable The bill allows certain exemptions, including: Halloween or school dress-up events related to human history (limited to five days per school year) Theater performances Dressing as a school mascot Students who do not comply with the proposed law could face removal from class, suspension, or expulsion. The bill also allows for placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program. Educators are required to report violations to the Texas attorney general. School districts that fail to enforce the law could face fines—starting at $10,000 for the first offense and increasing to $25,000 for further violations. The backstory According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a furry is someone who identifies with or enjoys dressing as an animal or creature. Many furries wear costumes or accessories such as animal ears and tails. A 2020 survey found that most furries are in their late teens or early 20s. The Source Information in this article comes from a House Public Education Committee meeting. Information on the FURRIES Act comes from the Texas Legislature and previous FOX 4 reporting.
