House Bill 47, an omnibus package of recommendations from the Governor’s Sexual Assault Survivors Task Force, was presented and advanced by the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on May 20.

The bill “includes eight of the ten policy recommendations” from the task force, sponsor Senator Judith Zaffirini said, and would, among other changes, “ensure courts consider the impact of case delays for adult survivors of sexual assault, expand post assault health care to 30 days for follow-up care, expand training for health care workers regarding survivor care, prohibit persons on the state sex-offender registry from working as rideshare drivers, require sexual-assault response teams to report biannually, and allow lease termination regardless of where the sexual assault occurred.”

Why it matters: The bill responds to what supporters described as statutory gaps that leave survivors “vulnerable,” including limits on survivors’ ability to terminate a lease when an assault occurred elsewhere and the lack of guaranteed follow-up medical care beyond an initial forensic exam.

Task-force administrator Nicole Martinez described the task force’s history and role: “The task force was established in 02/2019 to develop policy recommendations to improve our state's response to sexual violence, including the prevention investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases,” and the group was directed to develop statewide standards and make biannual reports to the Texas Legislature.

Public testimony included a mix of support and targeted concern. Paige Williams, representing Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Crusoe, said she supported most of the bill but cautioned about the bill’s reporting mandate: “What we do have a problem with is that the grant funding for the county, if the report is not sufficient or doesn't meet requirements in any way shape or form, all grant funding for the county can be removed.” Williams noted that many members of local assault-response teams are not government employees and include volunteers and hospital staff, and she urged the committee to consider how the funding requirement would affect counties.

Committee action: The committee voted to report House Bill 47 favorably to the full Senate (recorded as 4 ayes, 0 nays in the committee roll call). The bill was left pending for further consideration.

Background/context: The transcript notes that House Bill 1590 (2019) created the original task force and required policy and reporting recommendations; HB 47 packages many of the task force’s 2024 biannual report recommendations.

Next steps: With the committee’s favorable recommendation, the bill moves to the full Senate for consideration.