Jesse Scheckner
A bill designed to improve security against human trafficking at safe houses and crack down on noncompliance of anti-trafficking measures at hotels has cleared its final stop in the Legislature.
House members voted unanimously for the bill (SB 1690), a priority of Attorney General Ashley Moody that adds heightened signage, staffing and educational standards at shelters across Florida.
“Human trafficking is a complex issue that requires a multidisciplinary approach,” said Cantonment Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman, who sponsored the measure’s House analog.
Salzman said SB 1690 represents the first piece of state legislation in the U.S. to “take actionable steps” to prevent both human trafficking and re-trafficking, which the International Organization for Migration estimates happens to as much as half of people victimized.
“Imagine being that person, that victim, that survivor (and being) put in a place you’re told is safe. But you don’t have proper counseling. You don’t have security or someone trained to understand the signs and symptoms of people trying to re-victimize you. That’s what we currently have in the entire nation. Currently, there are no guardrails in place.”
Florida has the third-most human trafficking cases in America, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which has identified 6,168 cases in the state since its inception.
Human trafficking warning and information signs are currently required by law to be posted, in English and Spanish, at strip clubs and other adult entertainment establishments, massage parlors, emergency rooms, rest areas, turnpike service plazas, weigh stations, airports, rail stations, and public welcome centers. No such signage is mandated at sheltering facilities for victims and children.
There are 13 houses servicing adult survivors of human trafficking in Florida, according to a House staff analysis. Florida statutes currently give the Department of Children and Families (DCF) authority to monitor and certify safe foster homes and safe houses for children but provide no framework for the Department to do so for similar adult facilities.
SB 1690, which Spring Hills Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia carried through the Senate, aims to fix that by applying similar standards already in place for other types of shelters and victim houses to those liberated from human trafficking.
Notably, the bill would require:
— Human trafficking awareness and information signs to be “conspicuously” displayed at facilities maintained by child-caring agencies.
— Staff at each child-sheltering facility to include at least one person with law enforcement, investigative or similar training who can detect possible trafficking activity, search for and locate missing children, and coordinate with police.
— DCF to develop and deliver age-appropriate educational programming for children on the dangers of commercial sexual exploitation and how to report it.
— Certification by DCF of adult safe houses and an annual written endorsement from local law enforcement confirming the site meets certain environmental, service and documentation standards.
The bill also includes an amendment Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia made to the bill last month adding language of a separate measure (SB 692) by Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book closing loopholes in state statutes that have allowed thousands of hotels, motels and other public lodging establishments to avoid paying fines for noncompliance with human trafficking signage and training requirements.
The law, as it is currently written, allows for up to $2,000 in fines daily for noncompliant hotels. But according to a November investigation by the Sun-Sentinel, 6,669 lodging establishments racked up 14,000 violations since original law went into effect in 2019. Each violation carried an up to $2,000-per-day fine, with the money meant to go to a support organization for human trafficking survivors.
None of the hotels paid a cent since the law gives the businesses up to 90 days to fix any problem.
SB 1690, as amended, would punish repeat offenders and reduce the window for compliance to 45 days. Hotels would be able to correct one violation without having to pay a fine but would be on the hook for them for subsequent violations.
Members of both major political parties praised the added hotel-focused language, though none mentioned Book, whose bill died without a hearing or House companion last month.
Palm City Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf credited work by Salzman, Ingoglia and the House Judiciary Committee, of which he is Vice Chair, for amending the bill.
“This is an important area,” he said Monday. “I am grateful for the bill sponsor and for getting this done.”
Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, thanked Salzman for her leadership on the issue.
“We need to give more teeth to our state agencies to be able to enforce these laws, and of course reducing the time frame (for compliance) is really important,” she said. “Let’s do more on this front.”
