Today Legislative Republicans will be bringing Senate Bill 14 (Grove - 2023) for consideration and a vote on the Assembly Floor. The bill was rejected by Democrats in the Assembly Public Safety Committee earlier this week with the two Republicans on the committee voting in favor of the bill and all 6 Democrat committee members not voting. SB 14 would make sex trafficking of minors a serious crime in California.
“A. How is it not already a serious felony? B. WTF!?” asks Elon Musk as he found out Assembly Democrats on the Public Safety Committee rejected the measure.
“The notion that it isn’t a serious crime to traffic children for sex or labor is so absurd as to be laughable if it weren’t for the gravity of the situation,” says San Francisco Opinion writer Emily Hoeven in a column published yesterday. “... .The gaps between ideology and reality in some Democrats’ arguments are growing harder to ignore.… Democrats are ceding political ground to Republicans, who can now claim to be taking decisive action on California’s housing crisis while Democrats side with NIMBYs — and, for that matter, with child traffickers.”
“The Legislature should speed SB 14 through the committees and vote in support to give law enforcement a new tool for arresting, convicting and imprisoning anyone who would wreck a young person’s life out of greed,” writes the Fresno Bee Editorial Board in an endorsement of the bill made earlier in the year.
“The fact they’re currently able to keep doing this over and over again needs to be stopped,” says Brianna Williams, a brave human trafficking survivor who lost her sister from this horrendous crime last year. Survivors like Brianna and victims like Blaire deserve protection in the law.
“I didn’t have a bill that would help me back then,” explains survivor Odessa Perkins when sharing a chilling story of her mother trafficking her as a child. “But now, we have a bill[SB 14]…. to give a voice to the voiceless now.”
“I believe there is a disconnect between the legislature and this community and what is really going on,” says survivor Emily Sanders when explaining the harsh truth that too many individuals are trafficked in our backyards. Little did she know at this time that in just a few weeks Democrats in the Assembly would be putting that disconnect on full display.
“This bill supports justice for our victims,” details Faith Heath, an advocate who works to bring awareness and help survivors. “Now with this bill, it’s showing them they have a voice now…”
“Not only does it mean a lot to me, but to other parents who cry and say the law is not protecting our children,” Sylvia Lacey-Miller emotionally explains as she recalls bringing evidence in for her own daughter who was a trafficking victim.
In a speaking engagement yesterday, the Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas indicated he “had issues” with the way SB 14 was handled in committee. Yeah, so did we. That's why we are bringing this up for a vote by the entire Assembly today.
When asked at a press event yesterday about it, Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom said he was “surprised” by Democrats on the committee rejecting SB 14. Weren’t we all a bit surprised that such a commonsense measure was rejected? Might this be one of the extremely rare times that Governor Gavin Newsom is in line with Californians? But at the cost of disagreeing with his party's own elected Assemblymembers, it seems.
Democrats continued to double down on their disappointment in their colleagues. “There can be no doubt that human trafficking of a minor is as serious as it gets,” says Democrat State Senator Angelique Ashby in a tweet yesterday. Yet doubt her Democrat colleagues seem to have had. All 40 State Senators voted AYE on SB 14 when it was considered by the Senate earlier this year.
And last but not least, we’re featuring a quote by the very own caucus that rejected the measure in a deleted tweet yesterday where it appeared they tried to justify rejecting the measure. Assembly Democrats said “....any bill that builds on this system[3 Strikes] needs to ensure equity…” Because obviously ensuring equity for those who are trafficking children is the big picture here.
What do you think? Should sex trafficking of a minor be a serious crime in California?
Tune in to the Assembly Floor Session at 9:00 AM today to see if Democrats will do the right thing.