The human trafficking hotline bill passed the Oregon State House unanimously last week as reported in the OCCV news release that follows. This past Tuesday I picked up my son, Stephen, from college and we drove once again to the state capital in Salem where I presented testimony on behalf of OCCV to the Senate Human Services Committee. After hearing several testimonies – including from the legislative sponsors, and two people who have been spearheading this fight against human trafficking in Oregon, Sherriff Deputy Keith Bickford and County Commissioner Diane McKeel – the Committee unanimously passed the bill.
Stephen and I then helped Stephanie Mathis, the OCCV Executive Director, visit every one of the 30 State Senators' offices and ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the Senate Floor later this session. Stephen and I dropped in on to see our own legislators, Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and their great Aides Ryan and Eva. I also introduced Stephen to Legislative Aide James Barta. James works with Representative Brent Barton, one of the chief sponsors for HB 3623. James and Stephen both have something in common, as James was previously a high school math teacher, a career to which Stephen aspires.
Hopefully, the bill will come up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime today or tomorrow, but for sure before this brief session ends later next week. We are hoping for another unanimous vote, believing that this bill can serve as "heat and light" for an issue in our state that demands even far greater attention from the legislators in next year's full session.
Most people have no idea human trafficking is a significant issue in our own state. Human Trafficking was written into the state's law books only as recently as 2007. Last year, the State Legislature passed SB 839 which among other things granted "confidentiality status" to victims of human trafficking. This year it is HB 3623 which promotes a human trafficking hotline number and sticker through the Oregon Liquor Licensing Control Commission's license renewal mailings to 12,000 retail centers. Next year we are praying for legislation to be passed that will be much more comprehensive.
What more needs to be done? Human Trafficking is on the law books, but are there any teeth to the law? What kind of sentencing provisions are provided, if any? What can we learn from New York's Safe Harbor Act and similar laws in California? What can we learn from the example of how Dallas, Texas, treats victims as victims and goes after the pimps and traffickers as well as the johns? Laws need funding to function, a point New York's Safe Harbor Act has made painfully clear.
In our own state, Bickford, McKeel and others are leading the way in changing the way human trafficking is understood and dealt with, particularly in Multnomah County. But with the I-5 and I-84 corridors, HT is a statewide problem. And it is not just a concern of rescue and recovery, but finding ways to shut the door on the entry end of human trafficking. Most crucially, human trafficking is all about supply and demand. Cut off the demand, make human trafficking unprofitable and painful even to the perpetrators and the supply will dry up.
Already plans are being laid to work toward the 2011 legislative session as soon as this session closes next week. There is a whole year to get ready. Unfortunately, for those enslaved or about to be, a year is a long time to waste in the life of even one victim.
For now, we are grateful for all who are helping HB 3623 become law. If you are a resident of Oregon, please contact your State Senator and urge her or him to make it a unanimous vote in the next few days. Send a message that Oregon cares about all of its citizens, even the "least of these" among us (Matthew 25:45).
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Two other bills in this legislative session are also of concern. HB 3703 bans the use of Bisphenol A, a ubiquitous toxic chemical, which disproportionally affects the most vulnerable among us, namely our children. Since the 1960s, BPA has been used to make hard plastic polycarbonate bottles, like Nalgene, sippy cups for toddlers, and the linings of food and beverage cans, including the cans used to hold infant formula and soda. HB 3703 basically bans BPA from being used in containers intended primarily for consumption by children under three years of age. The bill is currently in the House Rules Committee, where Dr. Andy Harris has presented written testimony on behalf of OCCV in support of this bill.
HB 3664 is a bill that would extend health care benefits to foster children who age out of foster care, but who have not yet reached age 21. I wrote a member of the Ways and Means Committee this morning: "As an individual voter, I am very much in favor of our state extending health care to foster children who have aged out of foster care until they reach age 21. I believe that we as a State have a responsibility to these children to help them achieve full adulthood. As the father of four children ages 14 to 21, I well understand that none of them are ready to be on their own by age 18. As a Christian, I believe that we as a society have a responsibility to care for the fatherless and orphans. As a citizen, I am concerned that when we do not fulfill our responsibility towards the weak and the vulnerable, we pass on one generation's injustices to the next and we as a society pay for these injustices one way or another. In that an ounce of prevention is always cheaper than a pound of cure, I urge Representative Barker to vote for HB 3664 extending health care to age 21 for foster children who have aged out of foster care."
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OCCV News Release:
Human Trafficking Bill Unanimously Passes House and Senate Human Services Committee
The Oregon Center for Christian Values mobilizes advocates to support State Anti-trafficking bill.
The Oregon State House and Senate Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB 3623 which allows the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to include informational stickers with the National Trafficking Hotline Number to all 11,000 licensees across the state.
The estimated average age for a victim's first encounter with forced prostitution is thirteen. Because of the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for traffickers moving victims along the West Coast.
The bill's sponsors, Representatives Barton and Smith, praised the help of Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel who launched the anti-trafficking campaign, the Polaris Project, which sponsors the hotline, Representative Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg), and the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV). "This bill is a small first step to begin the fight against this problem," said Representative Smith on passage of the bill.
A months-long anti-trafficking advocacy effort by OCCV culminated last week with a hearing before the House Human Services Committee. At the hearing, Stacy Bellavia, member of OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee, presented testimony and introduced more than 20 OCCV members and friends from other organizations in attendance. These volunteer advocates then fanned out to visit the offices of all 90 of Oregon's state legislators, urging them to vote for the bill that could save trafficking victim's lives.
OCCV returned to the Capitol to testify before the Senate Human Services Committee with local anti-trafficking advocates and governmental officials. Senate Committee member, Senator Winters profoundly noted that trafficking is another word for modern day slavery.
"I have a lot of passion for justice," said Amy McDonald, one of four George Fox University students in the OCCV delegation. "Being able to go to the capitol and shake hands with people who have a direct impact on making changes in the vein of what I'm passionate about is incredibly encouraging to be a part of."
"It was so powerful when we all stood up in the hearing to show our support for the bill," said Lexie Woodward, Not for Sale's Co-Director of Oregon. "I feel there was and is a direct link between our organizations and the Capitol. I feel very encouraged by this and that my input was and will be heard."
OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee has served as a legislative facilitator for a host of other groups fighting human trafficking. This organizational network will coordinate efforts to recruit volunteers to help with the first mailing of the hotline stickers later this spring.
"While some bills are solutions in search of a problem," said Representative Barton, "this bill will save the life of at least one girl who would otherwise become the victim of human trafficking."
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