Democratic lawmakers in California revived a stalled child trafficking bill Thursday following public pressure after they initially chose not to advance the legislation.
The bill, Senate Bill 14, would increase penalties for child traffickers and would add the crime to the list of serious felonies in California, FOX Los Angeles reported. Anyone convicted of at least three serious felonies would face a prison sentence of between 25 years to life.
Earlier this week, Democrats on the state Assembly Public Safety Committee chose not to advance the bill, because they opposed longer prison sentences, arguing it isn't a deterrent to crime. Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly supported the bill, introduced by Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove, prompting Democrats to change course after he went against the party.
On Thursday, the committee advanced the bill with no amendments. In a brief meeting, four Democrats — including chair Reggie Jones-Sawyer — joined Republicans to advance the bill out of the committee ahead of a legislative deadline.
Assemblymember Liz Ortega on Thursday said she "made a bad decision" to vote against the bill earlier in the week.
"Voting against legislation targeting really bad people who traffic children was wrong," she tweeted. "I regret doing that and I am going to help get this important legislation passed into law."
The legislation will be vetted by the Appropriations Committee before heading to vote on the Assembly floor. Jones-Sawyer said he will ask for amendments to make sure victims of child trafficking are not penalized and that the legislation doesn’t disproportionately affect people of color.
"We shouldn’t be playing politics. We should be coming together — together — to move this forward so that everybody is safe," Jones-Sawyer told reporters after the hearing. "I’m going to make a commitment to do everything in my power to get it on the governor’s desk, so he can sign it."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
