Bill Text: HI HB1452 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Survivors of Human Trafficking; Services

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-25 - (H) Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JUD with none voting no (0) and none excused (0). [HB1452 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HB1452-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO.  3-12

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2012

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1452

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Labor & Public Employment, to which was referred H.B. No. 1452 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SERVICES FOR SURVIVORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to assist victims of human trafficking by, among other things:

 

     (1)  Requiring the Office of Community Services of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to coordinate with, and assist, law enforcement agencies, the county prosecutors’ offices, the attorney general's office, and the Department of Human Services to provide social services for survivors of human trafficking;

 

     (2)  Allowing the Office of Community Services to enter into contracts with non-government organizations for providing services to pre-certified victims of human trafficking;

 

     (3)  Establishing the types of social services that may be included in the provision of services to victims of human trafficking;

 

     (4)  Providing a process for the confirmation of an individual as a survivor of human trafficking;

 

     (5)  Requiring the State, the local law enforcement agency, or district attorney's office to assist a human trafficking survivor with respect to immigration if requested by the human trafficking victim or an individual representing that victim; and

 

     (6)  Appropriating an unspecified amount of funds for the provision of social services to human trafficking survivors.

 

     The Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery and several concerned individuals testified in support of this measure.  The Department of Human Services and IMUAlliance supported the intent of this measure.  The Office of Community Services of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations provided comments.

 

     Victims of human trafficking are commonly linked by poverty and a lack of opportunity and are often seeking to escape their impoverished life with the hope of finding opportunity and a brighter future in the United States, including Hawaii.  Human traffickers frequently promise unsuspecting victims an opportunity to travel, at no immediate expense, for employment and housing. When they reach their destination, these victims are often forced to work in various types of jobs that range from the sex trade to virtual slave labor.  By the time these individuals are rescued, if ever, their physical, mental, and psychological state have been shattered with many becoming ill and some even losing their lives.  This measure attempts to assist these victims.

 

     While your Committee understands that the issue of human trafficking is complex and raises many technical questions regarding the provision of social services and other types of assistance to survivors of human trafficking, this measure deserves further discussion and consideration.  It is your Committee's hope that the technical aspects of this measure will be more fully explored by your Committee on Judiciary.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring that a law enforcement agency or a district attorney's office notify the Office of Community Services and the Division of Criminal Justice Services that a human trafficking survivor may be eligible for social services not more than 30 days after a first encounter with a person who reasonably appears to be such a survivor;

 

     (2)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2012; and

 

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor & Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1452, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1452, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor & Public Employment,

 

 

		____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair