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When a victim reports a sexual assault, DNA and other evidence are collected and stored in what is commonly referred to as a ‘rape kit’, which is then tested in hopes of identifying the offender.

Florida once had a backlog of more than 13,000 kits, but legislation in 2016 helped clear the backlog.

Now lawmakers are looking to go even further to ensure kits are tested in a timely manner.

The Legislation is named Gail’s Law after Central Florida woman whose rape kit sat untested on a shelf for more than three decades.

“We’re talking about women that spent years and years and years losing sleep literally. Not being able to sleep at night for the fear that their offender would come back,” said Camille Cooper with RAINN.

When it was finally tested DNA evidence identified her offender as a serial rapist who was already in prison.

The bill would ensure victims like Gail could track the status of their rape kits in real time.

“No victims of sexual assault should have to watch their attacker escape justice because evidence was, similar to Gail’s case, just mishandled or not processed timely. Nobody should have their sexual assault kit sitting on a shelf for so many years. This will ensure that victims are not re-victimized,” said bill sponsor Rep. Emily Slosberg.

30 other states have already implemented rape kit tracking programs similar to the one now being proposed in Florida.

The legislation would task the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with establishing the uniform rape kit tracking system for the state.

Victims’ identities would remain protected.

This wouldn’t be the first reform to Florida’s rape kit system.

A backlog of over 13,000 kits was exposed in 2015, prompting legislation and a three year multi-million dollar effort to clear the backlog.

“What I’m concerned about is them staying caught up,” said Senate sponsor Linda Stewart.

Slosberg said Gail’s Law would help identify any kinks remaining in the system.

“If for whatever reason they’re not performing the rape kits in certain communities it will be exposed,” said Slosberg.

The state’s tight budget this year may make for a difficult path ahead.

Bill sponsors are still trying to work out the cost of implementing Gail’s Law.

Any additional cost to the state will be highly scrutinized.