The Florida Senate

Tallahassee, FL – Senator Linda Stewart (D – Orlando) has begun crafting a bill to address the human trafficking epidemic seen across the State of Florida. The bill looks to include expanded requirements for the posting of human trafficking awareness signs, increase hours of training on trafficking for law enforcement, and create a human trafficking data repository allowing anonymous tips.

In recent years, it was revealed that the state’s hotels and motels had been favored by human traffickers to conduct their illegal trade, and Central Florida had an exceedingly high amount of human trafficking in hotels, ranking in at the third largest region for trafficking in the state.

The bill will additionally work on adjusting language passed last session by Senator Stewart in her Tenant Safety bill, also known as Miya’s law. The bill prohibited hourly rentals at certain lodging establishments in an effort to curb exploitation.

“I’ve always advocated for human trafficking reform, and we can’t wait any longer with people’s lives at stake,” said Stewart. “I’m hoping that my legislation will see bipartisan support so we can work to put an end to trafficking across the state.”

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