Committee hears bill to require hotel staff training, debate centers on timing and liability language

The House Economic Development and Tourism Committee heard House Bill 490 on a proposed requirement that hotel and motel proprietors and staff receive training to recognize and report human trafficking and that proprietors who "knew or should have reasonably known" trafficking occurred on their premises be subject to criminal penalties.

Representative Bazemore, the bill’s author, told the committee the measure "had come about because of human trafficking" and described discussions with local officials and the first lady about hotels and motels allegedly turning a blind eye to trafficking operations. Reading language from the bill, Bazemore said, "any proprietor, owner, operator, or employee of a hotel who knew or should have reasonably known such premises is being utilized for the…