In the final hours of the 2016 session, lawmakers are scrambling to push legislation through and finish the budget. Several measures would address the almost 5,500 untested rape kits in the state, including to help survivors and ensure their rights.
Julianna Koob with the said justice has to be matched with services.
"Those victims鈥攕ome of them who were raped 20 years ago鈥攁re now realizing that their kits may not have been processed," she said. "When victims have the courage to go and provide evidence by going through a sexual assault exam and collecting that evidence, we want to make sure those kits are being processed."
A twin version of this legislation has already passed on the Senate side, and it's been waiting on the House calendar for a couple of days. This is a memorial so it would not require the governor鈥檚 signature.
Two bills that would put more than $1.5 million toward the problem have been folded into the budget. It鈥檚 unclear, though, whether that funding will survive the slashing underway now.
