Texas residents donated more than $560,000 over the last year to end the state’s staggering backlog of an estimated 15,000 untested rape kits.
But now that it’s time to put the dollars to use, the state can’t find enough agencies to take the money.
Last year, freshman state Rep. Victoria Neave, a Dallas Democrat, made a splash with her bipartisan legislation allowing people to donate a dollar or more to the cause when they applied for or renewed their driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations.
In October, Gov. Greg Abbott’s office opened the window for cities and counties to apply for a share of the money raised to clear rape kits. The application window closed Dec. 11, and there was a single applicant: Harris County, which asked for $104,000.
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