You could call it GoFundMe government

The state of Texas, like the crowd-funding website GoFundMe.com, is considering asking taxpayers to finance the testing of backlogged rape kits. The House recently gave tentative approval to a bill that would allow drivers renewing their licenses to donate $1 or more to pay for the testing of rape kits awaiting analysis. No other state is believed to be doing anything like that.

The state lab has 3,800 untested kits. Big cities like Houston and Dallas have thousands more. It costs anywhere from $500 to $2,000 to process a single kit.

This is one of those ideas that’s not bad, considering its intentions. But it’s still unsettling.

The testing of rape kits should be done — and done promptly — by local and state government. Each kit could solve a horrible crime — or several since many offenders are serial rapists. Something that important shouldn’t depend on the generosity of donors.

We get it; the Legislature has a budget shortfall. Not everything is getting funded. Lawmakers will have to say no more often than them might like.

But in times like this, priorities should be established. Government should fund its core mission first, and part of that is basic law enforcement.

It’s worth noting that lawmakers will apparently keep the state’s level of border security at $800 million, an amount that was doubled in the last session. That’s even though this is primarily a federal responsibility, and the number of illegal border-crossers has plunged due to President Trump’s tough stance on this issue. The House and Senate could have peeled away, say, $20 million from that appropriation and tested every old rape kit on every shelf.

But that’s not happening, so Texans are back to Plan B — kicking in a few bucks at license renewal time. It may have to do for now, but this session should be the last one it’s needed. – The Beaumont Enterprise