Wisconsin lawmakers appear likely to take no action on preventing delays in testing sexual assault evidence

MADISON - Wisconsin lawmakers are on track to go another year without passing legislation aimed at preventing sexual assault victims from waiting years before evidence is tested. 

The inaction comes after such delays were at the center of a campaign against the former attorney general — a contest he ultimately lost — and as sexual assault victims and their advocates have lobbied for legislation to ensure evidence is properly analyzed. 

Two different bills aimed at preventing delays in analyzing evidence collected from victims of sexual assault have each passed the Assembly and the Senate, but neither house wants to take up the other's proposal. 

Attorney General Josh Kaul on Wednesday blamed Assembly Republicans, who he argues purposefully proposed a separate proposal they knew wouldn't pass after the Senate already advanced one with broad support. 

"The State Senate came together in a bipartisan fashion to pass legislation supported by advocates for survivors, nurses, and law enforcement that can help prevent a future backlog of untested sexual assault kits," Kaul said in a statement. "But rather than passing that important bipartisan legislation, Assembly Republicans have chosen to prioritize political point counting over justice for survivors and public safety."

A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos did not immediately have a reaction to Kaul's characterization of Assembly Republicans' motives. 

The Senate in October approved Senate Bill 200, which is meant to prevent backlogs of processing sexual assault kits. It would put in place rules for who is responsible for submitting the kits to the State Crime Laboratory and the timelines they must follow.

But the measure stalled in the Assembly after Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, the New Berlin Republican who leads the Assembly Health Committee, declined to hold a hearing on the measure. 

Instead, Sanfelippo and other Assembly Republicans moved forward a bill introduced by GOP Rep. David Steffen, who also authored Senate Bill 200, that also sets procedures for collecting and storing sexual assault kits.

The new bill also would require the Department of Justice to provide reports to the Legislature every year, give victims the ability to anonymously track their sexual assault kits and give them the right to have evidence tested within 90 days and be given notice 60 days before evidence was destroyed.

It also includes measures related to long divisive topics in the state Capitol. The bill would allow students who were sexually assaulted by a fellow student or school employee to automatically qualify for the state's school voucher programs.

It also requires law enforcement to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when undocumented immigrants were arrested for sexual assault.

"When the Assembly took up AB 844 instead, which included provisions related to immigration that were harmful to survivors, inaction became the most likely outcome," Ian Henderson, of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said Wednesday. 

"We must never forget that behind every sexual assault kit is a survivor," said Henderson, who also worked with former Attorney General Brad Schimel to address the backlog of evidence that had not been tested for years. "Unless the Assembly takes up SB 200, survivors will have to wait for reform to ensure that sexual assault kits do not go untested again."

A spokeswoman for Vos did not answer whether the Assembly planned to do so, but Vos has said previously he believes the bill passed by Assembly Republicans is more comprehensive than the proposal passed by the Senate. 

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, however, said the Senate prefers the measure they passed — leaving the effort stalled for now.

Kaul has said the Assembly bill would create unfunded mandates for the DOJ and require reporting of information that could erode victim privacy.  

He also said the bill could send a message to victims to leave their friends and familiar school instead of requiring the school district to remove an offender and address a negative school environment as a result of the assault.  

Sexual assault victim advocates have said the bill's provision that requires police to notify immigration authorities could lead to fewer victims reporting assaults if they themselves are living here illegally.

Vos and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke have rejected both ideas and told reporters the proposal passed in the Assembly was worth advancing even if it meant no bill ultimately passed this session. 

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.