JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The last meeting of the Human Trafficking Task Force for this calendar year was held Tuesday as legislators were able to pre-file bills and constitutional amendments.
Rep. Elijah Haahr, chairman of the task force pre-filed legislation of his own as part of the task force’s legislative arm to combat human trafficking in the state of Missouri.
HB 1562 will expand the definition of human trafficking to include the advertising of a child for a commercial sexual act.
“Right now, if you traffick a victim, it’s a felony in the state,” Haahr said. “If you are just the advertiser, it’s not. Oklahoma does it. They passed a federal version of it last year. We had it last year, we filed it, it died in the Senate near the end when everything else died.”
That piece of legislation will be the first of up to five pieces of legislation Haahr and other legislative members of the task force, such as Rep. Cloria Brown, plan to file this session. Other bills will look to establish a safe harbor for victims, examine and possibly redefine the statute of limitations on sexual abuse and another would create three-strikes rule for those who use prostitutes, especially if those prostitutes are victims of trafficking.
While many task forces may focus on broader legislation that may or may not get off the ground, Haahr believes the topic of human trafficking and a genuine desire to fight that problem makes it easier to craft and pass effective legislation.
“The issue is one that lends itself to getting a significant amount of work done,” he said. “We had over 20 legislative ideas proposed around the state, and so picking four or five is not hard, it’s just which ones you want to champion up front.”
Funding appears to be the only roadblock to potential action.
“The budget process is always one that we need,” Haahr added. “It’s very expensive to do the victim advocacy, the training and stuff like that.”
The task force will release a final report on their findings in 2017. They will still hold meetings until then throughout the session. The report will focus on the tours the group is taking around the state and the input the receive from the general public and persons in the know on human trafficking. It will also suggest possible legislative action contingent on what is accomplished on that front in 2016.
