A group of committee Democrats blocked legislation on Tuesday that would make human trafficking of minors a “serious” felony.
California Democrat Liz Ortega has publicly apologized and vowed to right her wrong after helping to block legislation that would have made human trafficking of minors statewide a “serious felony” by law.
Ortega, a member of the California State Assembly’s Committee on Public Safety, and five other Democratics abstained from voting Tuesday on Senate Bill 14. Two Republican committee members voted in favor, leading to another vote on Thursday that passed, according to bill author Republican Shannon Grove.
California consistently ranks No. 1 nationally in the number of human trafficking cases reported, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
“On Tuesday, I made a bad decision,” Ortega, who represents District 20, tweeted on Thursday. “Voting against legislation targeting really bad people who traffic children was wrong. I regret doing that and I am going to help get this important legislation passed into law.”
Ashley Zavala, a Capitol correspondent with local NBC-affiliated news station KCRA 3, tweeted Tuesday that an audience member shouted “horrible” when the votes were cast.
“I’m glad to hear you have changed your position after we spoke to you yesterday when you told us to our face there’s enough punishment for child traffickers,” Denise Aguilar, an activist and co-founder of the Freedom Angels organization in California, tweeted at Ortega on Thursday.
Assembly Majority Leader Isaac Bryan, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said Tuesday that “longer sentences don’t actually stop things from happening,” according to local ABC-affiliated news station KGTV.
