After the Tennessee House of Representatives introduced a new amendment to modify SB 7088, an anti-human trafficking bill, several Republican members pledged their support to fight the practice, which has been described as “modern-day slavery.”
The original text of the Senate bill requires the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) “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.”
But an amendment was added by House Republicans, narrowing the bill’s scope so that TBI’s reports must only be reported to the Speaker of the House and not the Speaker of the Senate or the governor.
The amendment reads as follows:
By December 1, 2023, and by each December 1 thereafter, the Tennessee bureau of investigation shall submit a report on child and human trafficking crimes and trends in this state, based upon data available to the Tennessee bureau of investigation, as well as current programs and activities of the Tennessee bureau of investigation’s human trafficking unit, to the speaker of the house of representatives.
The Tennessee Star reached out to eight members of the Tennessee House to ask about the amendment. Three members responded to The Star’s inquiries.
State Representative Rusty Grills (R- Newbern) said he needs to get more clarity on the amendment before making a full statement, but that he supports the bill, which the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition has pushed during the ongoing special session of the General Assembly.
“I’m truly interested in the child trafficking bill,” said Grills (pictured above, right). “I can’t believe we’ve gotten to a point where this is happening in our communities.”
“I haven’t seen the amendment,” said State Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson). “It was just announced on the house floor. My hope is that that is just a placeholder. I’m not aware of what the bill sponsor is trying to accomplish. Leader Lamberth and Leader Johnson are supporters of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. I would be surprised if there was disagreement.”
“I fully support this bill and any effort by the state to take human and child trafficking seriously,” said Barrett (pictured above, left). “I’m looking forward to working with colleagues in the house and senate to tackle this problem head on.”
State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) said he was unaware of the amendment.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you why they did it. We’re all in the dark right now. Monday’s gonna be a big day. I think we’re gonna finish our calendar and we’ll wait to see what the Senate does at four o’clock.”
“Republicans have been leading the fight against human trafficking for years now and we will continue those efforts,” said Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby). “This is a very serious and horrific problem that we can do more to prevent. I think HB 7041 is a good bill and I will support it when we’re back in session on Monday.”
The special session was adjourned Thursday but will resume Monday at 4 p.m. CT.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Jody Barrett” by Jody Barrett.
