Conference to determine fate of Human Trafficking Bill

HONOLULU—The “Human Trafficking Bill,” if passed, will define the offense and make sexual human trafficking a class-A felony. Hawaii Senate Bill 2045 is scheduled for conference Thursday. Legislators from both the House and the Senate will meet to discuss the bill and possibly make changes and send it to Gov. Linda Lingle for signing into law. It is also possible that the bill will die in conference. No more testimony will be heard. Senate opposition to changes made to the bill by the House has made the conference necessary.

Supporting the bill in its current form are victim advocates such as the Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery (PASS), which acknowledges that human trafficking is directly linked to sex-slavery and the trafficking of children. Opposition comes from the State Attorney General’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, and the City Prosecutor’s Office, all of which claim that existing statues are sufficient.

“There is no reason to change the current wording of the bill,” says Kathryn Xian of PASS. “The opposition has been unable to prove their arguments.” PASS is encouraging supporters of the bill to attend the conference on Thursday.

Hawaii is one of only seven U.S. states without a statute recognizing human trafficking. Current statutes place victims, often prostitutes, in the same criminal category as patrons. Senate Bill 2045 was introduced by Senators Susan Chun-Oakland, Rosalyn Baker, Michelle Kidani, Jill Tokuda, and Robert Bunda.

The House conferees are Representatives Jon Riki Karamatsu (chair), Della Au Belatti, Sylvia Luke, Joe Souki, Clift Tsuji, and Kymberly Pine. The Senate conferees are Senators Brian Taniguchi (chair), Dwight Takamine, and Fred Hemmings.

The conference takes place Thrusday, April 15 at 2:15 p.m. in State Capitol Conference Room 325 and is open to the public. Testimony and other information on Senate Bill 2045 is available at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2010/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2045.