Senate panel advances bill expanding penalties for soliciting minors, keeps controversial loitering offense

The Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday voted to send Assembly Bill 379 to the Senate Appropriations Committee after hours of testimony from survivors, prosecutors, law‑enforcement groups and organizations representing sex‑worker and civil‑liberties advocates.

AB 379, authored in the Assembly by Assemblymember R. Schultz and presented in the Senate hearing by the bill author, would restore criminal penalties for solicitation of a minor aged 16 or 17 when the perpetrator is at least three years older, create a misdemeanor for loitering with the intent to purchase commercial sex, and increase civil and criminal penalties on businesses that facilitate trafficking. The bill also creates a new vertical prosecution grant program and directs fines to a survivor support fund.

Supporters described the bill as victim‑centered and an effort to hold buyers and complicit businesses accountable. Sacramento County District Attorney Tin Ho said the measure is “precise, it is victim centered and survivor focused,” and that the bill allows prosecutors to “go after those individuals who are buying” commercial sex while preserving discretion for younger adults. Survivor witnesses said the loitering provision and stronger fines would help communities and fund survivor services.

Opponents warned the loitering provision could criminalize routine conduct, be used discriminatorily in enforcement and expose noncitizens to immigration consequences. An executive of a Los Angeles lived‑experience organization said AB 379 could “cause devastating harm, especially to migrant sex workers and survivors,” and another witness from Decrim Sex Worker California argued the loitering language “is built for abuse” and would disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic men in past enforcement data.

Committee members pressed on immigration effects of the loitering offense and on how law enforcement would apply the statute. Senator Wiener and others asked whether the new loitering misdemeanor would trigger deportation; witnesses and the bill author said they would consult immigration experts and federal guidance but noted similar prior loitering statutes had been treated as potentially deportable. Several senators said they supported the solicitation sentencing changes for protecting minors while urging that the loitering language be revisited before the bill reaches the Senate floor.

The bill text also increases fines and authorizes enforcement by the California Attorney General for human‑trafficking notice requirements; sponsors said collected fines would fund a survivor support grant program. The bill creates a vertical prosecution grant program to encourage district attorney offices to form specialized human‑trafficking units.

After discussion, the committee voted to pass AB 379 to the Senate Appropriations Committee (motion moved by Senator Cortesi). The committee recorded the final vote in committee as 6‑0 in favor of passing the measure to appropriations.

For now, committee leaders said they intend to advance the solicitation elements and continue negotiating the loitering language with the author and with Senator Wiener; several members said they expect further amendments or a standalone proposal addressing loitering.