Next Steps: #ChangeMakers Needed!

Hello student advocates,

Has Monday got you feeling a bit like this?

Well eat that balanced breakfast and caffeinate accordingly because you're needed at the Capitol... and soon!



There are two committee hearings TODAY and TOMORROW that would hugely benefit from your voices.
 

TODAY

House Bill 1431: Outlaw Rape by Coercion

• Who? The Criminal Jurisprudence Committee is holding a hearing on Chairman Moody's bill.
• What? Rape is always a violent act, whether accomplished by physical force or the threat of other serious harm. However, current law recognizes sexual assault only under threat of physical force. This definition reflects old “stranger danger” stereotypes, even though most victims know their assailants and are put at risk of a much broader spectrum of harm. Rapists and domestic abusers should not be allowed to side-step the law simply by choosing their words carefully.
• When? TODAY, Monday 3/27 - time: 2PM.
• Where? Texas State Capitol, room E2.014.
• How? By sharing your story. Your voices are the ones that matter in convincing the committee that this bill is worthwhile, so we hope you'll bravely share that 3-minute testimony as so many of you did with us last week.

TOMORROW

Senate Bill 1163: Fund Rape Kit Testing

• Who? The Criminal Justice Committee is holding a hearing on Senator Garcia's companion bill to Representative Neave's House Bill we supported at last week's hearing.
• What? Individuals who are victims of sexual assault may choose, or may be asked, to undergo a forensic examination in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault to collect evidence left behind from the assault. The evidence is preserved in a sexual assault evidence collection kit, commonly referred to as a rape kit. The evidence collected in the rape kit may be used to prosecute the attacker. However, thousands of rape kits in Texas remain untested. The cost of testing associated with each kit is sometimes cited as the reason for part of the backlog.
  SB 1163 would establish a donation-based grant program to test evidence, including rape kits, collected in relation to sexual assaults or other sex offenses. The funding for the grant program would come from voluntary donations made by persons applying for, or renewing, their driver's license. Individuals wishing to donate will be able to donate $1 or more.
• When? TOMORROW, Tuesday 3/28 - time: 1:30PM.
• Where? Texas State Capitol, room E1.016.
• How? By sharing your story. Your voices are the ones that matter in convincing the committee that this bill is worthwhile, so we hope you'll bravely share that 3-minute testimony as so many of you did with us last week.

1. Provide oral testimony at one of the above hearings, usually limited to 3 minutes, but varies. (You will need to fill out a witness affirmation card registering your position on the bill then provide oral testimony.)
2.  Provide written testimony at one of the above hearings (You will need to fill out a witness affirmation card registering your position on the bill and provide 20 copies of your written testimony with your name on it and give it to the committee clerk at the hearing); OR
3. Solely fill out a witness affirmation card registering your position on a bill using a witness affirmation card obtained at the capitol.

Alicia, Wendy and the Deeds Not Words team

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