The Current

Advocacy News + Updates

On June 24, more than 40 advocates from all over the California gathered in Sacramento to participate in our second annual California lobby day. We advocated for the California Safe Harbor Bill (SB 738) —written to protect children who have been trafficked, instead of treating them as criminals.

These 40 advocates brought more than 2,500 postcards, written by you and hand-delivered to your state representatives. It was a thrilling day, and we were excited by the positive feedback from Assembly members throughout California after the bill had passed unanimously through the Senate side.

Setbacks and New Opportunities

After our lobby day, the bill’s main sponsor began receiving signals that there would be fiscal concerns from the administration as the bill approached being signed into law. Worried that the bill would not have enough time to gain widespread support as the legislative cycle came to a close, Senator Yee’s office, along with leadership and policy staff from both houses, decided that it would be best to place the Safe Harbor bill on hold and make it a two-year bill—allowing more time to spread the word and gain support.

An upside of this hold is that it won’t have to start at the beginning; Safe Harbor will begin next year in the Assembly, having already passed through the Senate with unanimous support. This development represents a high level of commitment by Senator Yee and state leaders to accomplish something bigger and more concrete during this two-year session. There are numerous policy and fiscal issues to address, and this time could allow for productive discussion.

While it is disappointing that this bill will not be signed into law during this cycle, we have high hopes for an even stronger piece of legislation in the future. Thank you for raising this issue to the attention of your policymakers, who became more aware and informed about the severity of this issue throughout California. Your voices were heard.

We encourage you to convey what happened to your policymaker and ask them for their support when the bill is picked up again next year.

Keep Advocating—It’s Your Move

This is not the end of advocating this year! We would like to extend the opportunity to get involved through It’s Your Move, where you can sign up to meet with your federally elected representatives when they come home for recess in August.

The deadline for signing up is July 15, and we hope you will sign up today. IJM will schedule your meetings and equip you to talk to your representative about how IT IS POSSIBLE to end slavery.

We look forward to continuing to work together!