BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 1731 (Atkins) - Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: August 1, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 1731 would permanently establish the Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force within the Department of Justice (DOJ), as specified. Fiscal Impact: DOJ : First-year costs of $175,000 (General Fund) in FY 2016-17, and $313,000 (General Fund) annually thereafter to chair the task force and complete the mandated task force activities including statewide data collection and increased public outreach. Task Force members : Minor, absorbable workload impact (General Fund) to various state agencies to provide a task force representative. Advisory committee(s) : Unknown, potentially significant costs (General Fund) to fund the staffing and activities of the advisory committee(s) established by the task force. To the AB 1731 (Atkins) Page 1 of ? extent the advisory committee executes some of the duties that otherwise would have been completed by the DOJ in its workload estimate, the associated costs would be redirected from the cost of the task force to the advisory committee. Background: In 2012, the DOJ published a report entitled, "The State of Human Trafficking in California," which reported the following: It remains a key challenge to identify the scope of human trafficking in California, as statistical data on victims, arrests, and convictions are unreliable. As described in the 2007 report, the crime itself is hidden and under-reported. Common categories and shared definitions do not exist - nor is there any single agency responsible for statewide data collection. As a further complicating factor, potential cases of human trafficking are often investigated and prosecuted under related offenses such as pimping, pandering, and prostitution rather than the Penal Code 236.1, which criminalizes human trafficking. The report included numerous recommendations, including but not limited to the following: Gather Comprehensive Human Trafficking Information: California needs a central clearinghouse to coordinate and compile human trafficking information from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and governments, as well as non-governmental organizations. It is important for any data collection effort to take special care to ensure that all partners share common working definitions of key terms, and to address the relative dearth of information about labor trafficking as compared to sex trafficking. Utilize California's Fusion Center System for Human Trafficking Information Sharing: California lacks a centralized mechanism for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of human trafficking information. California's State Threat Assessment AB 1731 (Atkins) Page 2 of ? System (STAS) provides critical tactical and strategic intelligence about trends and emerging patterns relating to criminal activity across the state, and ensures that first responders and policy makers are provided with relevant and timely situational awareness, as well as information on traffickers' current tactics and techniques. In coordination with the Attorney General's Office, California's anti-trafficking task forces should partner with other local, state, and federal law enforcement and the STAS to improve California's human trafficking information sharing environment. Increase Public Awareness: To raise awareness of this crime, public and private anti-trafficking partners can mount a coordinated, comprehensive public awareness campaign to improve awareness of human trafficking amongst the general public. This bill seeks to permanently establish a statewide task force to facilitate more collaborative efforts to combat human trafficking. Proposed Law: This bill would create the Statewide Interagency Human Trafficking Task Force within the DOJ, consisting of representatives from all of the following agencies: (1) A representative of the Department of Justice shall be the chair of the task force. (2) The State Department of Social Services (DSS). (3) The Children and Family Services Division of the DSS. (4) The Labor and Workforce Development Agency. (5) The State Department of Public Health. (6) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (7) The State Department of Education. (8) The Judicial Council. (9) The California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. (10) The Department of Consumer Affairs. AB 1731 (Atkins) Page 3 of ? This bill would require the task force to do all of the following: 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. 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. Evaluate and implement approaches to increase public awareness about human trafficking and make new recommendations on these approaches. This bill would specify that the protocols shall not duplicate the protocols developed by the California Child Welfare Council, as specified. This bill would provide that if the task force determines that the expertise of an advisory committee or advisory committees is needed to execute the duties imposed upon it pursuant to this section, the task force may create an advisory committee or advisory committees comprised of subject matter experts, including but not limited to, representatives of relevant county and municipality agencies, survivors, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and any other entities, groups, or individuals the task force deems appropriate. Prior Legislation: AB 22 (Lieber) Chapter 240/2005 established civil and criminal penalties for trafficking in human beings, allowed for forfeiture of assets derived from human trafficking, made legislative findings, and created the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery (California ACTS) Task Force. -- END -- AB 1731 (Atkins) Page 4 of ?