FRANKFORT, KY— A bipartisan bill that has been called a “comprehensive approach” to human trafficking prosecution and prevention has advanced to the floor of the Kentucky House.
House Bill 2 primary cosponsor and House Majority Caucus Chair Suzanne Miles, R-Owensboro, told the House Judiciary Committee that the legislation would ramp up efforts to combat human trafficking in the Commonwealth. House Judiciary Chairman Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, is also a primary cosponsor of HB 2.
“Human trafficking is something that is becoming more prevalent in our society and we’re starting to see it crop up in different areas,” Miles said, adding that growth in human trafficking has led to new approaches to combat the crime at the federal level, and through proposals like HB 2.
Besides adding specific human trafficking offenses to what qualifies as a sex crime under Kentucky law, HB 2 would increase awareness and prevention of human trafficking by requiring that the national human trafficking hotline number – currently (888)-373-7888 – be posted in public restrooms in airports, train stations, bus stations, and truck stops statewide.
Current law only requires posting of the hotline number at Kentucky rest areas, said Miles.
Signage required under HB 2 would be “pretty well everywhere that we have planes, trains, and automobiles,” Miles said. “It’s purposeful in that, so in the event that there is possibly a victim out there, the main numbers they really need to remember are the 3737.”
Speaking alongside Miles in support of the bill was Heather Wagers from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office who said that HB 2 is a “comprehensive approach” to deterring human trafficking and protecting vulnerable Kentuckians.
“This bill specifically aligns definitions with federal law, and it closes a loophole in the (state) sex offender registry,” Wagers told the panel.
HB 2 now returns to the full House for further consideration.
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