Ana Ceballos
The last-ditch effort to revive a Senate human trafficking bill crashed Friday night after the House decided to strip language that would have created a trust fund for victims.
When it was up to the Senate to consider the changes to the bill, Republicans argued it should be killed because the House “did not do the right thing.”
“Our friends in the House stripped that out in an attempt to say that they did something in the face of these women, all for political glory,” said Sen. Rene Garcia, who was audibly out of breath after running to his desk to debate the proposal.
“Vote this down,” he asked senators.
Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, pleaded with senators to support the proposal because it would help women who are used as sex slaves in establishments across the state.
“We can bring that trust fund back next session,” Book said as she pointed to three trafficking victims in the gallery watching the debate.
After her closing, the bill was struck down in a voice vote.
The measure would have allowed victims of human trafficking to sue hotels and motels if the owners or employees turn a blind eye to the illicit activity. If victims won a suit, the court would assess a civil penalty against the accused in the amount of $50,000 in addition to any other damage reward. Those proceeds would then be deposited into the trust fund.
Book unexpectedly tabled the bill a few weeks ago after it sailed through committee assignments, but on Thursday, she successfully tacked her bill onto a House-backed bill that expands control and monitoring of sex offenders and predators in the state.
Once the human trafficking language was slashed from the sex offender bill (HB 1301), the Senate passed the measure unanimously, sending it back to the House.
