DES MOINES (AP) — Legislation designed to improve police response when Iowa children go missing won Senate subcommittee approval Monday.

Under the proposal, funding would be offered to local law enforcement agencies that want to update public notification systems about missing children. The state sex offender registry would be updated with registrants ranked based on the risk they pose and the statute of limitations would be lifted on prosecuting the sex abuse of children.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, who is sponsoring the bill, said he hopes the proposal could help prevent cases like one that occurred last summer, when two young cousins went missing in July while riding their bikes in Evansdale. The bodies of the two girls, Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook, were found by hunters in a wildlife area in December, and no arrests have been made.