An anti-human trafficking bill passed the Tennessee House of Representatives in an 86 to 1 vote on Monday. The same bill passed the Tennessee State Senate on Wednesday in a 26 to 0 vote.
The bill now goes to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature, which is expected since addressing human trafficking was one of the 18 subjects he asked the Tennessee General Assembly to address in his August 9 special session proclamation.
The anti-human trafficking bill is the first bill of the special session to pass both houses and go to the governor for his signature.
The bipartisan support for the bill is seen as a major victory for the governor and the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition.
The bill, introduced by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) (pictured above), would require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to “submit a report on child and human trafficking crimes and trends in this state, based upon data available to the bureau, as well as current programs and activities of the bureau’s human trafficking unit, to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the speaker of the senate by December 1, 2023, and by each December 1 thereafter.”
“Today was another victory in the lengthy, ongoing quest to eradicate child and human trafficking, modern-day slavery, in the state of Tennessee,” the TNFFC said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Tennessee House of Representatives for their approval of HB7041/SB7088 for Special Session today.”
“We started this entire Special Session process vehemently disagreeing with Governor Lee on some issues not related to trafficking,” the TNFFC added, noting, “Very frankly, we even called for him to cancel this Special Session.”
“To his credit, Governor Lee listened to our concerns on those issues, acknowledged and took them to heart, and then showed true leadership on this issue. It is a true credit to a leader when they put aside certain differences and work together with stakeholders for the common good. In our view, there is no other issue more important than saving children, women, and even men from being victimized by modern-day slavery. Thank you, Governor Lee,” the TNFFC said.
The group went on to call for “additional progress on fighting child and human trafficking,” saying, “Modern-day slavery is a scourge in the state of Tennessee, and we must demonstrate to our constituents that we are making progress keeping their communities, where our children sleep and play, safe.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “House Majority Leader William Lamberth” by William Lamberth and “Tennessee House Floor” is by Antony-22 CC4.0.
Christopher – I have utmost faith that we could survive without illegals – period. Just think, no more traffic accidents with illegals with no license and no insurance. That would be a great start. Then add in the savings from their welfare, “free” medical care and no more outrageous government payments to NGO’s like Catholic Charities that are greatly profiting from processing the illegals.
I need to research the bill to see who the 1 rep was which voted for child trafficking. Star should interview/out this person.
Does “human trafficking” mean helping illegal immigrants find work? Would the economy survive without them? It would take some getting used to.