Washington 14th District State Representative Gina McCabe has been named co-chair of a legislative task force that will look at best practice models for managing all aspects of sexual assault examinations and funding options to reduce the number of untested sexual assault examination kits in Washington that were collected prior to late July.  The task force is part of legislation that also requires police agencies to ask the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory to test every new sexual assault or rape kit, as long as the victim approves.  The sexual assault evidence collection kits contain swabs and other tools used to collect DNA samples and other evidence from rape victims.  They are stocked by police departments and hospitals, and are intended for use immediately after a sexual assault or rape has occurred.  McCabe says other states addressing backlog issue have had great success linking perpetrators to crimes.  The task force must submit a preliminary report to the Legislature and the governor before December 1.