Missouri lawmakers consider regulations for summer, day camps after deadly Texas flooding

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri lawmakers are considering two bills that would require summer and day camps to be licensed and create emergency plans for inclement weather.

The bill was prompted by a deadly Texas flood that killed 27 girls at Camp Mystic in July 2025.

Rep. Cameron Parker (R-Campbell) introduced the legislation in the House, known as the Summer and Day Camp Emergency Response Act, at the end of January, and it has been assigned to a committee.

Sen. Nicholas Schroer (R-St. Charles County) filed a similar bill with the name "Heaven's 27 Camp Safety Act" on Monday.

On Thursday, Parker said she met with two fathers whose daughters died in the deadly Texas flood.

Both bills would require camps to create emergency response plans, which would be approved annually by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Camps would need to make several emergency plans for different scenarios, including:

• A lost camper
• A fire
• Severe injury, illness, accident or death
• Water emergency
• An epidemic
• Unknown person on camp property
• Natural disaster

If passed, the bills would require the camp to monitor safety alerts from the National Weather Service, and establish communication procedures with law enforcement, camp staff and parents. Once approved, the camp would also need to instruct campers and staff on how to respond in emergencies.

According to the Campaign for Camp Safety, a group of parents whose children died in the Texas floods, many states either don't require camps to be licensed or don't hold camps to school standards.

Blake Bonner's daughter, Lila Bonner, was among the 27 campers who died during the historic flash flood during the 2025 Fourth of July weekend.

"All we knew at first was the Lila and the other girls were missing, and then, in my case, we found out she had passed," Bonner told ABC 17 News on Thursday. "My entire world got turned upside down."

Bonner said he and many other Camp Mystic parents got together after that to prevent a similar tragedy in Texas and other states.

"It became clear almost immediately, once we started doing a little fact-finding, that there is really just a few key tenants to 'How do you make sure this never happens again?'" Bonner said.

Bonner's answer is prevention, training, detection and response. Many of those elements are found in Missouri's proposed legislation.

"Let's make sure we don't put our children in harm's way, I think is the best way to summarize prevention," Bonner said.

Training teaches people how to use preventive measures, Bonner said.

Bonner said a fire alarm is a good example of detection.

Finally, response is figuring out what to do in an emergency and having a plan in case of the worst.

"What became clear to all of us is that responding in the moment, in the middle of an emergency, is the absolute worst thing to do," Bonner said.

The bills would also require camps to be licensed if they are caring for more than six children, which is standard for many childcare facilities. The current law doesn't require camps that are "conducted in good faith primarily to provide recreation" to be licensed.

Parker said after filing the bill, many other representatives from both sides of the aisle have expressed their support.