DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott is traveling to Dallas Tuesday to sign five bills that aim to help victims of human trafficking and sexual assault.
The governor will sign the bills at New Friends, New Life, a non-profit in North Dallas that provides education, job training and financial assistance for victims and their families.
According the governor's office, the Texas legislature passed five bills dealing with trafficking and sexual assault this year:
-- House Bill 8 (Neave/Nelson) will tackle the rape kit backlog in Texas by requiring an audit of untested kits, establishing timelines for results to be submitted, and extending the statute of limitations.
-- Senate Bill 20 (Huffman/S. Thompson) enhances tools to fight online sex trafficking, increases the penalties for buyers, and creates a process for victims to clear their records of certain offenses committed solely as a victim of trafficking.
-- Senate Bill 71 (Nelson/S. Thompson) establishes a statewide telehealth center to expand victim access to specially trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.
-- House Bill 1590 (Howard/Watson) creates a Sexual Assault Survivors' Task Force within the Office of the Governor to catalogue services, identify gaps, and coordinate efforts across the state to strategically address sexual assault.
-- House Bill 2613 (Frullo/Huffman) directs forfeited proceeds from stash houses to services that aid victims of human trafficking.
During the session, Neave said DPS has a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits "sitting on shelves, waiting to be tested. We have thousands of survivors waiting for justice."
