Governor Rick Scott signed three measures into law Tuesday, including two bills looking at strengthening Florida’s human trafficking statutes. At a bill signing at the Capitol, he was joined by agency heads and a couple of state lawmakers. That included Rep. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart), one of the bills’ authors.
“We have to make sure that we have the services that are available to individuals once they’re identified and come to our attention so that we can make sure that they will heal and they will get through this, and they will go on to become productive citizens,” said Harrell.
Her measure puts guidelines in place for the state’s foster care and juvenile justice agencies to follow when administering safe houses for human trafficking victims. The other bill increases the criminal penalties for human trafficking and places more protections for victims.
The two bills were huge priorities for Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was also in attendance at Tuesday’s bill signing.
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