Proposed Law Mandates Backup Generators at Long-Term Care Facilities

A winter storm that hit Texas in February left thousands of businesses and residents without electric power and heat for days including the most vulnerable— senior citizens.  In response, the state’s lawmakers filed several bills addressing the power outages. A recent bill requires backup generators and heat at senior living facilities, KXAN-TV reports.

State house bill 2325,  filed by state representative Ed Thompson (R-Pearland),  requires nursing and assisted-living facilities to have a backup power supply on-site in case of future severe weather events and blackouts. Thompson told committee members he had worked on the legislation since 2019, but these recent challenges made it more urgent than ever. “For the benefit of all Texans, it must be done. Lives depend on it,” he said.

According to data that was presented to the Texas House’s Human Services committee this week, 56 senior living facilities were forced to evacuate residents and nine had backup power supplies that allowed them to stay in place. There are over 2,000 assisted living facilities in Texas.

“We know of assisted living residents who had to go to homeless shelters for their evacuation sites,” said the state’s Long-term Care Ombudsman Patty Ducayet.

Several industry leaders and nursing home operators testified against the bill due to the cost of the generators. Thompson said he is willing to work with them to find a solution to this problem. “This is a difficult bill, one that we knew was going to be a heavy lift, and one that was going to be controversial,” he said. “I just, in good conscious, can’t say it’s not worth it.”