HB 29

"🚨 TEXANS—Here’s what HB 29 actually does 🚨

They say it’s about fixing water leaks.

But what this bill really does is take power away from your city and hand it to unelected state agencies—and private contractors you’ll never vote for.

HB 29 targets large city-owned water utilities (like San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas). If these utilities report too much water loss—even once—they’re forced into a long cycle of audits, reports, and $25,000 fines.

But here’s the kicker: the state gets to decide what counts as “too much” water loss. And those rules? They’re not written in the law.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) gets full authority to make the rules later, in private, with no public comment required.

That means city utilities have no idea what standards they’ll be judged by—until the fines come.

And cities aren’t allowed to use their own staff or engineers to do the audits. Instead, they must hire state-approved private contractors, even if they already have qualified personnel in-house. No bidding process. No cost caps. No appeal.

Who profits?
– Water auditing firms
– Infrastructure contractors
– Environmental consultants
All of them now have a guaranteed stream of public money—paid for by your local taxes and water bills.

And this isn’t a one-time fix. Every 10 years, the audits repeat—forever.
No state funding. No flexibility. No accountability.

This is what privatized enforcement looks like:
State agencies set the rules.
Private firms get the money.
Cities take the blame.
And the public gets no say.

HB 29 doesn’t fix water leaks. It leaks power—from your city to Austin.

If you care about local control, transparent government, and stopping backdoor privatization, start paying attention.

🧾 Follow and share if you want to know what Texas laws really do."