Sponsors (3)
The bill strengthens survivors' evidence preservation and control and incentivizes states to adopt uniform protections through grant formulas, but it ties federal funding to state compliance and raises storage/cost burdens, risking reduced services in noncompliant states.
Sexual-assault survivors (e.g., women and long-term patients) will have evidence kits preserved for at least 20 years and clearer notification/‘request’ rules, improving survivors' ability to preserve evidence and pursue justice.
States that enact survivor-rights laws equivalent to 18 U.S.C. §3772 will receive larger shares of grant funding (60%), creating a strong federal financial incentive for states to adopt uniform, stronger protections for survivors.
States that do not enact equivalent survivor-rights laws could receive smaller shares of federal grants, reducing state-level funding available for crime-victim services and related programs.
Smaller-tiered grant allocations could redirect federal money away from some local victim service programs, potentially reducing on-the-ground services for survivors in less-compliant states and local hospitals/health systems.
Mandating 20-year preservation of evidence kits may impose increased storage and personnel costs for law enforcement and healthcare facilities that handle kits.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced June 3, 2025 by Charles Ernest Grassley · Last progress June 3, 2025
Creates a tiered formula for distributing certain federal grants so States that provide sexual-assault survivor rights equal or substantially similar to the federal standard receive higher allocations, and prevents States from getting money from more than one tier. Also changes federal law to require that sexual-assault evidence kits be preserved for at least 20 years and adjusts language about how survivors request notifications before disposal or further preservation of kits.