Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, left, talks with Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, proper, right through the consultation within the Texas Senate Tuesday, May 19, 2009, in Austin, Texas. Senate participants licensed her measure that gets rid of the 60-day ready length sooner than a divorce is granted in circumstances the place a partner has been convicted of an act of circle of relatives violence in opposition to the petitioner. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Legislation that will amplify eligibility for the Crime Victims’ Compensation Program and support beef up for sufferers used to be handed by way of the House on Wednesday, the general hurdle sooner than heading to Gov. Greg Abbott’s table to be signed into regulation.
The bill, SB 49, authored by way of Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, would amplify eligibility to family participants of sufferers, build up the quantity of relocation reimbursement to be had, build up the cap on misplaced wages paid to members of the family of a deceased victim, take away positive limits on bereavement go away, and extra, as mentioned within the bill and a Senate analysis. State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint authored a significant other bill within the House.
“Recovering after violence can be a long, arduous journey. When victims are left to heal without support, they’re more likely to be revictimized, and their lives can be destabilized,” stated Terra Tucker, the Texas state director for Alliance for Safety and Justice, in a news liberate. “If it becomes law, countless survivors and their families can rest assured that they have support to remain safe and get their lives back on track.”
Program suffering to function
The Crime Victims’ Compensation Program is operated by way of the place of job of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. CVC is meant to lend a hand sufferers of violent crimes and shut members of the family of crime sufferers who’ve been injured or killed with the monetary price of crime.
In 2022, the CVC program gained over 42,000 programs and awarded just about $72 million, according to the most recent annual report. Money for this system comes most commonly from state courtroom prices, federal grants, and costs paid by way of other folks convicted of crimes. Over $81 million used to be put into this system closing yr.
KXAN investigated the CVC program in 2021 following the Uvalde bloodbath and located the OAG department working this system has increasingly more struggled lately to take care of programs and disburse cash temporarily.
The OAG place of job has suffered from vital staffing vacancies and occasional morale, and crime sufferers had been feeling the affect, employees, and sufferers stated. KXAN discovered victim claims are taking longer to procedure, and contact calls are taking longer to resolution. Workers within the place of job stated they’ve been overloaded with claims, and crime sufferers stated they had been suffering to transfer ahead with their lives with out the help they carried out for.