BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1731 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1731 (Atkins) As Amended May 27, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Public Safety |7-0 |Quirk, Melendez, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, | | | | |Lopez, Low, Santiago | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonilla, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Roger | | | | |Hernández, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Obernolte, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ AB 1731 Page 2 SUMMARY: Creates the Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force to gather statewide data on human trafficking, to recommend interagency protocols and best practices for training and outreach to law enforcement, victim service providers, and other state and private sector employees likely to encounter sex trafficking, and to evaluate and implement approaches to increase public awareness about human trafficking. Specifically, this bill: 1)Creates the Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force within the Department of Justice consisting of representatives from the following agencies: a) A representative of the Department of Justice shall be chair of the task force. b) The State Department of Social Services; c) The Children and Family Services Division of the State Department of Social Services; d) The Labor and Workforce Development Agency; e) The State Department of Public Health; f) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; g) The State Department of Education; and h) The Judicial Council. AB 1731 Page 3 i) The California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. 2)Directs the Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force to do the following: a) Gather statewide data on sex and labor traffickers, sex buyers, and human trafficking victims, including statistics on prosecution of offenders as well as services provided to victims, including commercially sexually exploited children. b) Recommend interagency protocols and best practices for training and outreach to the law enforcement community, victim service providers, and other state or private sector employees likely to encounter trafficking, such as educators and hotel workers. c) Evaluate and implement approaches to increase public awareness about human trafficking and make new recommendations on these approaches. 3)States that the protocols in this bill shall not duplicate protocols developed by the California Child Welfare Council, as specified. EXISTING LAW: 1)States that "sexual exploitation" refers to a person who knowingly promotes, aids, or assists, employs, uses, AB 1731 Page 4 persuades, induces, or coerces a child, or a person responsible for the welfare of a child, who knowingly permits or encourages a child to engage in, or assist others to engage in, prostitution or a live performance involving obscene sexual conduct, or to either pose or model alone or with others for purposes of preparing a film, photograph, negative, slide, drawing, painting or other pictorial depiction involving obscene sexual conduct. 2)States that any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or services, is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for five, eight, or 12 years and a fine of not more than $500,000. 3)Specifies that any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a violation of specified sex offenses, is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for eight, 14, or 20 years and a fine of not more than $500,000. 4)Provides that any person who causes or persuades, or attempts to cause or persuade, a person who is a minor to engage in a commercial sex act, with the intent to effect a violation of specified sex offenses is guilty of human trafficking. A violation of this subdivision is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison as follows: a) Five, eight, or 12 years and a fine of not more than $500,000. b) Fifteen years to life and a fine of not more than $500,000 when the offense involves force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person. AB 1731 Page 5 5)Allows the District Attorney of the County of Alameda, in collaboration with county and community-based agencies, to develop, as a component of the specified pilot project, protocols for identifying and assessing minors, upon arrest or detention by law enforcement, who may be victims of commercial sexual exploitation. 6)Specifies that the District Attorney of the County of Alameda, in collaboration with county and community-based agencies that serve commercially sexually exploited minors, may develop, as a component of the specified pilot project, a diversion program reflecting the best practices to address the needs and requirements of arrested or detained minors who have been determined to be victims of commercial sexual exploitation. 7)Permits the District Attorney of the County of Alameda, in collaboration with county and community-based agencies, to form, as a component of the specified pilot project, a multidisciplinary team including, but not limited to, city police departments, the county sheriff's department, the public defender's office, the probation department, child protection services, and community-based organizations that work with or advocate for commercially sexually exploited minors. 8)Requires the District Attorney of the County of Alameda to submit a report to the Legislature by April 1, 2016, that summarizes the activities of the pilot project. 9)States that the authorization for the pilot project in Alameda County will expire on January 1, 2017, unless extended by the Legislature. 10)Allows the County of Los Angeles to establish a pilot project to develop a comprehensive, replicative, multidisciplinary model to address the needs and effective treatment of AB 1731 Page 6 commercially sexually exploited minors who have been arrested or detained by local law enforcement for a violation of specified sexual offenses. 11)Requires the District Attorney of the County of Los Angeles to submit a report to the Legislature by April 1, 2016, that summarizes the activities of the pilot project. 12)States that the authorization for the pilot project in Los Angeles County will expire on January 1, 2017, unless extended by the Legislature. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, moderate General Fund cost to the Department of Justice of $175,000 in 2016-17 and $313,000 annually thereafter, for two positions. COMMENTS: According to the author, "California remains at the forefront in the fight against human trafficking and will continue to do so. Yet, there is not currently a statewide entity working to coordinate the efforts of all the relevant state agencies, to collect and analyze multi-faceted human trafficking data from around the state, and to increase awareness about human trafficking so that members of the public know how to identify and report human trafficking. "AB 1731 creates such an entity, the California Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force, with specific mandates for the above-described action. As the fight against human trafficking evolves in our state, the Task Force can evolve with it, and future legislation can mandate further action. "This statewide task force will be comprised of representatives AB 1731 Page 7 from state agencies involved in law enforcement, social services, child welfare, labor, public health, and corrections and rehabilitation, education, and the courts." Analysis Prepared by: David Billigsley/ PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0003160