Human trafficking bill sent to governor’s desk

Even though legislative efforts intended to abate human trafficking requires annual funding to be effective, there is finally a bill on the governor’s desk.

By a unanimous vote of 98-0, the Iowa House voted to pass SF 2191 on Wednesday, sending the bill to Gov. Terry Branstad for what will likely be his approval. The Senate passed the bill, 50-0, in late February.

SF 2191 calls for an office to be created within the Department of Public Safety to specifically handle issues surrounding human trafficking. It’s not an appropriations bill and it doesn’t require the legislature or the governor to fund the office through hiring staff.

All four legislators who represent Jasper County — Rep. Dan Kelley (D-Newton), Rep. Greg Heartsill (R-Columbia), Sen. Chaz Allen (D-Newton) and Sen. Amy Sinclair (R-Allerton) — have spoken out against human trafficking and the need for awareness and action.

“We put policy in place, but we’re not done by any means,” Allen said. “But this is a good start.”

The bill calls for the commissioner of public safety to appoint a coordinator to staff the office, with the number of personnel to be determined by allocated funding. Allen said one of the benefits of having the office is it gives the legislature the ability to send funding somewhere specific to target human trafficking.

“We can now divert resources to this,” Allen said. “Human trafficking is new to all of us. We’ll get better with this (as legislators) as it goes along.”

Allen praised Sen. Kevin Kinney (D-Oxford) for getting the legislation written and passed, calling the former police investigator the legislature’s “resident expert” on human trafficking.

Iowa Department of Justice senior investigator Michael Ferjak, who recently spoke at an event in Newton, said with one sexual assault to a person being a life-changing event, a trafficking victim is assaulted an average of 15 to 20 times each day.

Ferjak praised the Newton community for having more than 40 people at a talk about human trafficking and for helping create a coalition called “Newton Says No to Human Trafficking.” He said both of those benchmarks represent progress.

Gary Worthan (R-Storm Lake), who is House Justice Systems Appropriations Subcommittee chairman, warned that lawmakers have added duties and responsibilities to the DPS, which has struggled to retain its staffing during lean budget years.

Jasper County Attorney Mike Jacobsen said the funding component from the legislature is a critical element if there is progress to be made from setting up a human trafficking office.

“The bill establishes an office and directs the commissioner of public safety to appoint a coordinator to staff the office,” Jacobsen said. “The bill does not provide funding for the coordinator position, nor for other staff. In fact, it says staff can be hired if funding is available.”

Jacobsen said he thinks a new DPS office might have little interaction with county attorneys.

“I would suspect that much like the Office of Drug Control Policy, local prosecutors like myself and staff would rarely have contact with an office of human trafficking,” he said.

Co-founder of Newton Says No to Human Trafficking Lynn Keller said she was pleased to see legislation headed to Branstad’s desk.

“This is progress,” Keller said. “Legislation that would result in the coordination of efforts to combat human trafficking is a crucial step in rescuing trafficking victims and helping them become survivors.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com