NE Bill 1st Round

[MsElena]

The new bill just passed the first round. One of the senators is asking for escort services to have licenses.

http://momaha.com/article/20120321/N...ex-trafficking

[jjchmiel78]

Article no longer available. Do you date and section of paper so I may look up the article? Was there more to the bill than just asking you ladies to pay? Would it be the equivilant of the stamp act in 1930s or so for a plant I am not supposed to mention here?

[JonGator]

Originally Posted by jjchmiel78

Article no longer available. Do you date and section of paper so I may look up the article? Was there more to the bill than just asking you ladies to pay? Would it be the equivilant of the stamp act in 1930s or so for a plant I am not supposed to mention here?

“Published Wednesday March 21, 2012”
The link worked fine for me. I just read the article. Good find Elena. It will be interesting to see how it pans out!

[Missy Mariposa]

Originally Posted by jjchmiel78

Article no longer available. Do you date and section of paper so I may look up the article? Was there more to the bill than just asking you ladies to pay? Would it be the equivilant of the stamp act in 1930s or so for a plant I am not supposed to mention here?

Neb. bill fights sex trafficking

By Martha Stoddard
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
« Metro/Region
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LINCOLN — Nebraska would take a stronger stand against human sex trafficking under a bill given first-round approval Wednesday by state lawmakers.
Legislative Bill 1145 would increase penalties for pandering, especially pandering of minors.
It also would require strip clubs and rest stops to post signs informing potential sex trafficking victims about a national hotline.
State Sen. Brenda Council of Omaha called the bill a "giant step" toward preventing the victimization of Nebraska citizens. But she said more work will be needed in coming years to address a problem that has hidden in the shadows of society.
Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said understanding is growing about the scope and seriousness of the problem.
Sex trafficking typically involves young female runaways, many with drug addictions, who get caught up in a form of modern-day slavery.
"This is nefarious, it is horrific and it is ubiquitous," Ashford said. "It may be one of the great catastrophes of our time."
Experts have estimated that at least 100,000 American children are exploited for prostitution, pornography and sexual performance each year.
The average age of children when first drawn into the sex trade is 13. State-by-state estimates of the problem are not available.
Sen. Pete Pirsch of Omaha said that, as a former prosecutor, he saw a depressing number of young women involved with prostitution and soliciting.
As introduced, LB 1145 would have given those women a means of getting prostitution convictions wiped off their record if they could show they were victims of sex trafficking. The bill also would have allowed the state to seize the assets of people convicted of human trafficking.
But Council said there were constitutional concerns involving both issues. The Judiciary Committee took those provisions out of the bill so they could be studied further.
LB 1145 would create a task force to study human trafficking in Nebraska and recommend steps to counter it.
The task force would work with the state Department of Labor to develop the informational signs and to encourage businesses and government entities to post them.
The bill also mandates training of law enforcement and other authorities about identifying and helping trafficking victims and prosecuting traffickers.
Traffickers convicted of pandering would face steeper penalties under the bill.
Current law makes pandering, commonly known as pimping, a misdemeanor. Under LB 1145, it would become a Class 4 felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Pandering of a minor would be a Class 3 felony, punishable by one to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial noted that the bill does not address the role of escort services in trafficking. He has introduced a bill requiring licensing for the services, which he said serve as fronts for prostitution.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com

Honestly, I hate the idea of "licensing" from what I've seen in Canada (Calgary, actually - where's Shayla when you need her!). Only because they bend indies over and give a break to agencies though. And then of course they bend over the girls who can't afford licenses...

[Bigh1955]

There was an effort by a State Senator here several years ago to require licensing for all escorts. I can't locate the proposed legislation, perhaps because it never made it out of the Unicam.

I find myself surprisingly torn on the issue of licensing. I think I'm going to reserve further comment until Elena's M&G. Maybe we'll have a spirited debate. Maybe Elena will throw my butt out!

[Guest062614]

Just to clarify - the proposed legislation does not include anything about requiring escort services to have licenses. That was just a comment added by one senator.

[MsElena]

It wasn't just a comment, he introduced a bill:

"Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial noted that the bill does not address the role of escort services in trafficking. He has introduced a bill requiring licensing for the services, which he said serve as fronts for prostitution."

[Guest062614]

Correct, but that is a DIFFERENT bill. That one is LB 513. It is a "carry over" bill. It was introduced in LAST YEAR'S session and it did not advance to a vote. I was just making clear that licensing escort services is not part of the bill that was the subject and focus of the newspaper story. I guess I would have been more accurate had I said "the other senator commented that he had proposed licensing escort services in a different bill"

[MsElena]

Yes, I know its a different bill. I did read the article and have read the bills.