Sen. Avila bill to combat human trafficking receives bipartisan support through committee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A bill with measures aimed to further combat human trafficking received bipartisan support through its second Florida Senate committee Tuesday.

SB 796 is being carried by Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens. It passed 8-0 in the Criminal Justice committee and passed 6-0 in the Governmental Oversight and Accountability committee.

The bill now heads to its last Senate stop.

Human trafficking means “transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining, purchasing, patronizing, procuring, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploitation of that person,” according to the bill’s analysis.

The bill adds four new members to the board of directors for the Florida Alliance to End Human Trafficking. The new members will be appointed by the current board of directors.

The group is the direct support organization established to provide assistance, fund and support the Florida Statewide Council on Human Trafficking.

An amendment was approved that extends the future repeal dates of the organization to Oct. 1, 2029.

The bill replaces the national human trafficking hotline with the Florida human trafficking hotline.

It also requires contractors with governmental entities to attest that they do not use coercion for labor or services.

Public lodgings shall provide annual training regarding human trafficking awareness to employees of the establishment under the bill. This includes anyone who regularly interacts with guests, rather than just housekeeping and front desk staff.

Training must also be provided for new employees within 60 days after they begin their employment in these roles.

During the meeting, Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood, questioned Avila on the statistics and asked if there has been any improvement.

Avila said Florida is ranked as the third highest state in the nation in terms of reported human trafficking cases.

“For reports of commercially exploited children to the Florida abuse hotline in 2022, it was 3,408 and in 2021, it was 3,182. So from 2021 to 2022, we’ve seen an uptick in terms of reported cases with the Florida abuse hotline,” Avila said.

Based on the numbers, Pizzo said Florida is not doing a “good job,” and he would support the bill.

“We’re still stuck in third place, even though we’re pretending that we’re doing something about it, we’re really not. So I’m in favor of anything that promotes the idea that we’re going to be doing more…” Pizzo said.

Avila noted that Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is working with with local governments “to try to really rein in this illegal activity.”

“These parameters here are obviously meant to and to help and assist, but it really is going to require a lot of collaboration between the state attorneys and local governments particularly in these very tourist centric areas throughout our entire state to combat this,” Avila said.

If passed, the bill would take effect July 1.

Last session, lawmakers passed legislation supporting human trafficking victims and strengthening trafficker penalties.