Senate committee advances trafficking penalty bill after removing contested provision

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5–2 on March 9 to send Senate Bill 75, as amended, to the Appropriations Committee after adopting two committee amendments that sponsors said tighten language and remove a contested sentencing provision.

Vice Chair (speaker 8), a sponsor, told the committee L1 "aligns the definition of commercial ****** activity with other definitions within our statute and mirrors federal law" and said lines 13–14 remove a spousal exemption in current statute. He said the changes responded to victims-advocacy requests and would avoid the exemption that had previously shielded certain conduct.

Committee members debated policy and fiscal impacts. Senator Henricksen (speaker 10) acknowledged the bill’s aim to strengthen penalties for human trafficking but said the fiscal note shows construction costs tied to increased prison bed needs — "capital construction costs of about 1,700,000.0" per medium-security facility in the fiscal estimate — and said those downstream costs should be addressed in the bill’s funding plan. Several members said they supported the policy goals but opposed the bill without a clear capital funding fix.

After closing amendment debate and sponsor remarks, the committee took a roll-call vote and advanced SB75 to Appropriations with a 5–2 tally. The committee record shows L1 and L5 (the strike of Section 7) were adopted and remain part of the amended bill sent forward.

The committee’s action does not finalize penalty levels or an appropriation; the bill must still pass additional committees and floor votes. The Appropriations Committee will reconcile any fiscal transfers or capital funding necessary if the General Assembly decides additional corrections capacity is required.