California Democrats passed a bill Thursday to enact stricter punishments for child sex traffickers following a push from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to revive the legislation after it failed.
The Assembly Public Safety Committee faced scrutiny when all six Democratic members voted to abstain from the vote to advance Senate Bill 14 Tuesday, which aimed to create harsher penalties for repeat offenders, making them ineligible to be released from prison early.
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Members called for an emergency meeting on Thursday after Newsom raised concerns that the bill did not advance. Newsom said, “I want to understand exactly what happened yesterday (in the committee). I take it very seriously,” according to the Associated Press.
Newsom contacted Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove to inquire about the legislation that was three years in the making.
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“It’s an area I care deeply about. I have since my time as mayor, as a supervisor working with then-District Attorney Kamala Harris,” Newsom said. “I appreciate Shannon Grove’s efforts on this and wanted to make sure she knew that today and we’ll be following up and will have more to say shortly.”
Four Democrats and two Republican committee members voted to move the bill forward. The legislation now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration before the full body.
