Study Projects $3.3B Annual Loss Should Texas Pass 'Bathroom Bill'

AUSTIN, TX — A newly released study unveiled on Monday found that the so-called "bathroom bill" passes in the Legislature, it could cost the state $3.3 billion in annual tourism revenue and more than 35,600 full-time jobs associated with travel and conventions.

The study conducted by Perryman Group of Waco, Texas, was commissioned by Visit San Antonio and the San Antonio Area Tourism Council. The mulled bathroom bill would ban transgender people from using public bathrooms labeled with the gender of their sexual identity, forcing them instead to use bathrooms according to the gender listed on their birth certificates.

The report comes in the heels of an earlier study by the Texas Association of Business that also predicted $8.5 billion in annual losses in the event of a passed bathroom bill that was later found to have flaws in its methodology. The Perryman report, however, had a more rigid methodology in reaching its conclusion, researchers said.

“In other words, what we have been saying all along is absolutely undeniable,” Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit San Antonio, said in a statement referenced by the Texas Tribune. “These numbers tell us there will be a significant — and longstanding — adverse impact on San Antonio and the state. We urge our legislators to consider these effects in making their decisions.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has been the most visible proponent of the bill, framing it as a safeguard to prevent a scenario he envisions would open the door to widespread sexual assaults on women and children, as he's expressed in national media rounds while promoting the proposed legislation.

>>> Read the full story at Texas Tribune

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