FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5308

C 253 L 13

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Establishing the commercially sexually exploited children statewide coordinating committee.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Kohl-Welles, Carrell, Darneille, Padden, Kline, Hargrove, Fraser, Chase, Keiser, Conway, Cleveland and Tom).

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

House Committee on Public Safety

Background: The recruitment, transportation, and sale of people for labor is a problem in Washington State. Several factors make Washington prone to human trafficking, including an international border with Canada, an abundance of ports, vast rural areas, and dependency on agricultural workers. Seattle is part of a trafficking circuit that can include Honolulu, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Portland, Vancouver – Clark County, Yakima, and Canada. Trafficking has occurred in 18 Washington State counties.

Traffickers often prey on individuals who are poor, frequently unemployed or underemployed, and who may lack access to social safety nets. Victims range from domestic workers to mail-order brides to commercially sexually exploited children. Sex trafficking victims, in particular, are often minors who have been recruited, transported, or obtained to perform commercial sex acts, which are any sex acts done in exchange for monetary or other nonmonetary gain.

Summary: The Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Statewide Coordinating Committee (Committee) is established to address the issue of children who are commercially sexually exploited, examine the practices of local and regional entities involved in addressing sexually exploited children, and make recommendations on statewide laws and practices.

The Committee is called to order by the Office of the Attorney General, and the prescribed membership includes legislators, representatives from state and local agencies, and relevant criminal justice entities. The legislative representatives must be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. The representatives of nongovernmental organizations and community service providers must be appointed by the Office of the Attorney General.

The duties of the Committee include, but are not limited to, overseeing and reviewing the implementation of the Washington State Model Protocol at pilot sites; receiving reports and data from local and regional entities regarding the incidence of commercially sexually exploited children in their areas; reviewing recommendations from local and regional entities regarding policy changes that would improve the effectiveness of local response practices; and making recommendations regarding data collection and strategic local investments to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

This section expires on June 30, 2015.

The Committee must meet no less than annually.

Votes on Final Passage: