House committee hears bill to require anti‑trafficking training for lodging workers, including short‑term rentals

Representative Regina Young, sponsor of House Bill 1286, told the House Tourism, Recreation and Economic Development Committee that the bill is aimed at reducing human trafficking by increasing training and awareness across the lodging industry.

"This legislation is really speaking to the heart of humanity," Representative Regina Young said, opening a hearing that drew testimony from hotel‑industry groups, law‑enforcement officials, victim‑service advocates and anti‑trafficking nonprofits.

House Bill 1286 would require employees at hotels, motels and other public lodging — and, as discussed repeatedly at the hearing, workers connected to short‑term rentals — to complete anti‑trafficking training every two years. Supporters told the committee the training uses survivor‑informed content and existing national courses that are available online and free of charge.

Joe Massaro, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, said the industry supports the bill and that the proposed training matches materials already used by many hotels. "There’s no room for human trafficking in Pennsylvania," Massaro said, citing PRLA and AHLA efforts to expand training to the short‑term rental sector.

Sarah Bracco, vice president and policy counsel at the American Hotel and Lodging Association, described AHLA’s longstanding No Room for Trafficking campaign and its training, which the association reports has produced more than 2.2 million course completions nationally. "The lodging industry is uniquely positioned to prevent and respond to that crisis," Bracco said, and she urged the committee to adopt the statewide requirement.

State law‑enforcement and victim‑service witnesses detailed why hotels and other lodging settings matter to anti‑trafficking work. Heather Castellino, chief of the Human Trafficking Section at the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, described how traffickers exploit the anonymity and privacy hotels and short‑term rentals can provide and urged broad training so staff can identify and report signs while remaining safe.

"Traffickers target vulnerable people who have needs that the traffickers can fill," Castellino said, adding that the attorney general’s office now investigates and prosecutes trafficking using a multidisciplinary, trauma‑informed approach.

Advocates and local task‑force coordinators told the committee that trafficking patterns are changing. Brad Ortenzi, Eastern U.S. director for ZOE International and coordinator of Berks and Lancaster task forces, said detectives and advocates are seeing a shift from hotels to short‑term rentals because online booking platforms can mask identities and short‑term rentals often lack staff and cameras.

"We're starting to see a slight shift of this going from hotels to short term rentals," Ortenzi said, and he urged training adapted for that setting.

Representatives and witnesses discussed implementation details, including who would develop the course materials and how the training would reach short‑term rental hosts. Kirsten Kenyon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), said PCCD has been working with PRLA and other stakeholders and expects to use existing trainings while ensuring they meet Pennsylvania best‑practice standards.

Funding and enforcement dominated several committee questions. Kenyon told members PCCD has received approximately $700,000 to date from court‑ordered fines and forfeitures to support victim services and trafficking grants; she and other witnesses said that funding has been limited and uncertain. Castellino and Kenyon both said that additional appropriations or steady funding streams would be needed for sustained statewide training and victim services.

Panelists also described civil and criminal accountability options for lodging operators. Castellino noted that Pennsylvania’s trafficking law includes penalties that can reach up to $1 million for business entities that aid trafficking and that the Attorney General’s Office has pursued both prosecutions and public‑awareness efforts. Shay Rhodes, director and co‑founder of the Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, urged the committee to consider stronger remedies for business facilitators and continued emphasis on prosecuting traffickers and buyers, not victims.

"We need to target traffickers... We need to target the buyers," Rhodes said, adding that hotels and short‑term rentals can be third‑party facilitators of trafficking and should be engaged in prevention efforts.

Several members asked about short‑term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo. Witnesses said existing hotel training can be adapted but that short‑term rental hosts and platform operators will need tailored guidance because hosts often have little or no on‑site interaction with guests. Panelists said some states have already included short‑term rentals in training requirements and suggested Pennsylvania could join those efforts.

Committee members also raised legal and remedial issues for trafficking survivors, including vacatur and record relief for offenses committed as a result of trafficking. Rhodes recommended expanding vacatur eligibility so survivors can clear convictions tied to their exploitation and suggested procedural changes to make vacatur petitions easier to file and adjudicate.

The hearing closed without votes. Committee Chair Mary Jo Daley thanked witnesses and members and said the committee would continue work on the proposal.

Implementation questions remain: whether short‑term rental platforms will participate, how PCCD will fund and certify trainings statewide, and what additional statutory fixes (including vacatur procedures and use of forfeiture proceeds) the legislature might pursue. Supporters urged the panel and committee to move quickly because major upcoming events and a high volume of short‑term rentals could increase victim vulnerability.

"The industry knows that it's critical we do safety and training appropriately," Massaro said. "Pennsylvania lodging industry is proud to be part of this solution."