BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1942 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 21, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY Mark Stone, Chair AB 1942 (Cristina Garcia) - As Amended April 13, 2016 PROPOSED CONSENT SUBJECT: HUMAN TRAFFICKING RECOGNITION AND REPORTING: TRAINING: HOTELS AND MOTELS KEY ISSUE: SHOULD HOTEL AND MOTEL EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LIKELY TO COME INTO CONTACT WITH VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING BE REQUIRED TO BE TRAINED IN HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND HOW TO REPORT THOSE SIGNS TO AN APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY? SYNOPSIS This bill represents another helpful step in the Legislature's and this author's continuing efforts to battle the tragedy of human trafficking. The Attorney General's office reports that human trafficking is the world's fastest growing criminal enterprise with a global industry estimated at $32 billion-a-year. California, in particular, is one of the top four destination states for human trafficking in the United States. In response to this problem, the Legislature enacted SB AB 1942 Page 2 657 (Steinberg) in 2010, which mandated that all retailers and manufacturers doing business in the state in excess of one hundred million dollars publicly disclose their efforts, if any, to eradicate human trafficking from their supply chains. It was signed by the Governor and has become a national model for leveraging the power of business to fight human trafficking. In 2012, the Legislature enacted SB 1193 (Steinberg), which required businesses, transit hubs, and other locations that are the most likely sites of sex and labor trafficking to post a notice in multiple languages and conspicuous font that publicizes human trafficking resources. This bill builds on those efforts by requiring hotel and motel employees who are likely to come into contact with victims of human trafficking in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Because this bill amends Section 52.6, the same code section with the notice posting requirements for businesses, the civil penalty and enforcement provisions in that section will apply to violations of the training requirements in this bill. Therefore, a business that violates the training requirements will be subject to a civil penalty. And in the circumstances described above, a government entity will be able to bring a civil action against the business. This bill is supported by a wide array of law enforcement and anti-trafficking groups, as well as the California Catholic Conference, the California Labor Federation, and the National Association of Social Workers. Recently passed (on Consent) by the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, this bill has no opposition on file. SUMMARY: Requires training of hotel and motel employees in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires that a hotel or motel that provides lodging services in the state shall train its employees who are likely to interact or come into contact with victims of human AB 1942 Page 3 trafficking in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. 2)The training described in 1), above, shall follow the Department of Justice guidelines. 3)Requires, by July 1, 2017, the Department of Justice to develop guidelines for training employees to be used by a hotel or motel described above and shall post them on its Internet Web site. 4)Specifies that the guidelines shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following: a) An overview of human trafficking, including the experience of its victims, how and why it takes place in the hospitality industry, and how it is defined under state and federal law. b) How to identify signs of human trafficking. c) How to report signs and incidences of human trafficking. d) The risks human trafficking can pose to the hotel or motel. 1)Requires, by January 1, 2018, the training to be incorporated into the initial training process for all new employees who are likely to interact or come into contact with victims of human trafficking. 2)Defines, for the purposes of the training requirements of this bill, "offense" means each incident identified in the notice of noncompliance issued to an employer or business by a government entity without reference to any particular number AB 1942 Page 4 of employees involved. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes, under federal law, the crimes of kidnapping in interstate or foreign commerce, peonage, slavery and trafficking in persons, and provides for criminal and civil penalties. (18 U.S.C. Secs. 1201, 1581-1595.) 2)Provides, under the federal Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, the crime of human trafficking, and delineates various federal actions to combat trafficking, punish perpetrators, and provide services to victims of trafficking. (22 U.S.C. Sec. 7100 et seq.) 3)Provides, under state law, that any person who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain prostitution, child pornography, extortion, or to obtain forced labor or services is guilty of human trafficking. (Penal Code Sec. 236.1.) 4)Provides, under state law, for mandatory restitution and allows trafficking victims to bring a civil action against his or her trafficker. (Civil Code Sec. 52.5. All further statutory references are to the California Civil Code, unless otherwise indicated.) 5)Provides, under state law, that any provision of a contract that purports to allow a deduction from a person's wages for the cost of emigrating and transporting that person to the United States would be void as against public policy. (Section 1670.7.) AB 1942 Page 5 6)Mandates, under state law, that all retailers and manufacturers doing business in the state and who generate in excess of one hundred million dollars in "gross receipts" to publicly "disclose its efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their direct supply chains for tangible goods offered for sale." (Section 1714.43.) 7)Allows, under state law, for the seizure of any real property that is used to facilitate human trafficking. (Penal Code Sec. 236.3.) 8)Requires the operators of bars, adult or sexually oriented businesses, massage businesses that are not licensed by a central massage licensing authority, airports, rail stations, bus stations, highway truck stops, emergency rooms, urgent care centers, farm labor contractors, privately operated job recruitment centers, and roadside rest stops to post a conspicuous notice publicizing human trafficking resources. (Section 52.6 (a).) 9)Requires the Department of Justice to develop a model notice that complies with 8), above, and to make a model notice available on the Department of Justice's website. (Section 52.6 (d).) 10)Provides that a business or establishment that fails to comply with the requirements of this section is liable for a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) for a first offense and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent offense. (Section 52.6 (e).) 11)Provides that a government entity may bring an action to impose a civil penalty pursuant to this subdivision against a AB 1942 Page 6 business or establishment if a local or state agency with authority to regulate that business or establishment has satisfied both of the following: a) Provided the business or establishment with reasonable notice of noncompliance, which informs the business or establishment that it is subject to a civil penalty if it does not correct the violation within 30 days from the date the notice is sent to the business or establishment. b) Verified that the violation was not corrected within the 30-day period described in paragraph. (Ibid.) FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal. COMMENTS: This bill represents another helpful step in the Legislature's and this author's continuing efforts to battle the tragedy of human trafficking. According to the author, this bill aims to address the lack of awareness on human trafficking in California, particularly in regards to who is at risk, how to identify the signs, and how to report the signs. Hotels and motels, like mass transit locations, are high-risk areas for human trafficking in both sexual and labor trafficking. Currently, there is no requirement for the hotel and motel industry to provide human trafficking awareness training for employees. According to the author: Polaris, a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating human trafficking, has identified 1,434 cases of human trafficking in hotels and motels nationally from December 2007 through February 2015 involving 1,867 victims, 45% of whom were minors. These alarming statistics only help to identify trends. They do not represent the full scope of the problem, as the data received by Polaris comes only from reports to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and to Polaris' BeFree helpline. AB 1942 Page 7 Scope of the Human Trafficking Problem - Legislative, Administrative, and Law Enforcement Response. The Attorney General's office reports that human trafficking is the world's fastest growing criminal enterprise with a global industry estimated at $32 billion-a-year. The human trafficking industry affects more than 20.9 million people globally. Contrary to public perception that human trafficking victims are from other countries, data collected from California's task forces indicate that the vast majority of victims are Americans. Notably, 72% of all human trafficking survivors are U.S citizens, with 80% of human trafficking victims in the U.S being women, and 50% being children who attend school in the day and are trafficked at night. California, in particular, is one of the top four destination states for human trafficking in the United States. In 2010 the Legislature enacted SB 657 (Steinberg), which mandated that all retailers and manufacturers doing business in the state in excess of one hundred million dollars publicly disclose their efforts, if any, to eradicate human trafficking from their supply chains. It was signed by the Governor and has become a national model for leveraging the power of business to fight human trafficking. In 2012, the Legislature enacted SB 1193 (Steinberg), which required businesses, transit hubs, and other locations that are the most likely sites of sex and labor trafficking to post a notice in multiple languages and conspicuous font that publicizes human trafficking resources. This bill builds on those efforts by requiring hotel and motel employees who are likely to come into contact with victims of human trafficking in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. According to the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee's AB 1942 Page 8 recent analysis of this bill, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking, which is an open membership group partnership comprised of transportation and travel industry stakeholders in 2012. It was created to maximize the transportation industry's collective impact on combatting trafficking. The San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport have implemented a training program on recognizing the signs of human trafficking. The Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has also implemented a training program, requiring its transportation employees to learn how to identify signs of human trafficking and abductions and how to report these signs. This training helped a VTA bus driver named Tim Watson save a three-year old child from abduction. Similar training in the hotel and lodging industry could likewise be helpful in terms of recognizing and reporting cases of human trafficking. According to the author: A hotel or motel that provides lodging services in the state shall require its employees, who are likely to interact or be in contact with victims of human trafficking, to receive training that educates the employees in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and reporting those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. The training should address no less than the following issues: An overview of human trafficking, including the experience of its victims, how and why it takes place in the hospitality industry, and how it is defined in the law. By requiring human trafficking training for all hotels and motels in California, the state will open a new avenue for helping victims and arresting human traffickers - and will be the first state in the nation to do so. AB 1942 Page 9 Similarly, the Guardian Group writes as follows in support of the bill: A wide array of legislation has been introduced to take steps to fight the crime of human trafficking in California. This legislation is focused on encouraging training for hotel and lodging workers on human trafficking. Hotels and motels are high-risk areas for human trafficking, including both sexual trafficking of guests and labor trafficking of employees. There is currently no requirement for the lodging industry to train their employees to spot or report victims of human trafficking. Absent training, employees risk missing telltale signs of human trafficking and lacking the knowledge of appropriate reporting measures. Civil Penalties for Violations. Current law requires that operators of bars, adult or sexually oriented businesses, massage businesses that are not licensed by a central massage licensing authority, airports, rail stations, bus stations, highway truck stops, emergency rooms, urgent care centers, farm labor contractors, privately operated job recruitment centers, and roadside rest stops to post a conspicuous notice developed by the California Department of Justice, publicizing human trafficking resources. (Section 52.6 (a), (d).) A business that fails to comply with the notice posting is liable for a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) for a first offense and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent offense. (Section 52.6 (e).) Current law allows a government entity to bring an action to impose a civil penalty pursuant to this subdivision against a business or establishment if a local or state agency with authority to regulate that business or establishment has done both of the following: (1) Provided the business or establishment with reasonable notice of noncompliance, which informs the business or establishment that it is subject to a civil penalty if it does not correct the AB 1942 Page 10 violation within 30 days from the date the notice is sent to the business or establishment, and (2) Verified that the violation was not corrected within the 30-day period described in paragraph. (Ibid.) Because this bill amends Section 52.6, the same code section with the notice posting requirements, the civil penalty and enforcement provisions in that section will apply to the training requirements in this bill. Therefore, a business that violates the training requirements will be subject to a civil penalty. And in the circumstances described above, a government entity will be able to bring a civil action against the business. CURRENT AND RECENT SIMILAR LEGISLATION: AB 1595 (Campos) requires training for private and public employers that provide mass transportation services in recognizing the signs of human trafficking and how to report those signs to the appropriate law enforcement agency. AB 1595 is pending in the Assembly Employment and Labor Committee. AB 22 (Lieber, Chapter 240, Statutes of 2005) enacted the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which established civil and criminal penalties for human trafficking and allowed for forfeiture of assets derived from human trafficking. SB 180 (Kuehl, Chapter 239, Statutes of 2005) also established the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery (California ACTS) Task Force. SB 657 (Steinberg, Chapter 556, Statutes of 2012), the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, encourages large businesses to voluntarily take steps to use their substantial economic leverage to deter forced labor from being used in their supply chains. AB 1942 Page 11 SB 1230 (DeSaulnier, 2010) required public postings regarding human trafficking for specified businesses. This bill passed the Legislature in 2010, but was vetoed. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs California Association of Code Enforcement Officers California Catholic Conference California College and University Police Chiefs Association California Labor Federation California Narcotic Officers Association Guardian Group Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association Los Angeles Police Protective League National Association of Social Workers AB 1942 Page 12 Riverside Sheriffs Association Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Alison Merrilees / JUD. / (916) 319-2334