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BASTROP COUNTY — State Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, capped the final week of the 89th Texas legislative session with momentum, touting 30 House-passed bills and several now awaiting the governor’s signature.
The county’s representative passed eight additional bills last week, including Senate Bill 261 to ban the sale of lab-grown meat in Texas and Senate Bill 379, which would block the use of SNAP benefits to purchase soda and junk food.
“Struggling families and children on food stamps need nutritious food, and we’re making sure they get even more of it,” Gerdes said.
House Bill 29, headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, requires annual water audits and conservation planning from major city-run water utilities, with a $25,000 penalty for noncompliance. It applies to systems with more than 150,000 service connections.
“Texans deserve a future where every drop counts, and this bill moves us one step closer to that goal,” Gerdes said in a statement.
He also marked the passage of Senate Bill 2078—coined “Stop the Slop”—which would ban composting facilities from importing food waste from outside their home counties. The move is driven by concerns in Lee County about materials being transported from Austin, Gerdes added.
Gerdes said 13 more of his bills had cleared the House and were awaiting Senate action before the session deadline. One of those, Grayson’s Law, aimed at strengthening child protection measures, passed unanimously out of a Senate committee.
He has also turned his focus to national security, calling for the swift passage of House Bill 119, which would require lobbyists working on behalf of foreign adversaries to register and bar them from receiving related compensation. The bill, currently in conference committee, aims to increase scrutiny of influence efforts by the People’s Republic of China, he said.
Referencing former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Gerdes emphasized the risk posed by Chinese companies under PRC intelligence laws.
“We must treat all PRC companies the same and with serious caution,” Gerdes said. “Let’s protect Texas, and pass my version of the bill ASAP.” In addition, Gerdes continued to push bills he sponsored earlier in the session, including House Bill 1523 to block outside aquifer storage recovery projects in Bastrop and Lee counties, and House Bill 2545, which creates a rural workforce training grant program.
Other motions include his sponsorship of Senate Bill 689 to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state and local agencies, and his support of the Women’s Bill of Rights—designed to safeguard women’s access to sports, education and shared spaces.
The legislative session is scheduled to end after press time June 2.
More details on signed legislative actions to come in the Courier.
