CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 147-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2016

RE:    H.B. No. 1902

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

       C.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 1902, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SEX TRAFFICKING,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to establish a victim and survivor-centered approach to comprehensive anti-sex trafficking laws by:

     (1)  Replacing the offense of Promoting Prostitution in the First Degree with Sex Trafficking, a class A felony and violent crime;

     (2)  Establishing a class C felony for the act of paying for sex in reckless disregard of the fact that the other person is a victim of sex trafficking;

     (3)  Specifying that the offense of Sex Trafficking requires proof of negligence with respect to the victim's age when the victim of sex trafficking is under 18 years of age;

     (4)  Specifying that when a minor under the age of 18 commits the act of engaging in or offering to engage in sexual conduct with another person for a fee, it is not a criminal offense, but rather a violation that subjects the minor to the jurisdiction of the family court;

     (5)  Making amendments to strengthen the enforcement of laws and increase penalties against the sex trafficker;

     (6)  Expanding the Department of the Attorney General's Statewide Witness Program to include sex trafficking;

     (7)  Providing victims with access to criminal injury compensation; and

     (8)  Amending laws relating to civil liability for cases of coercion into prostitution.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by specifying that a minor may be taken into custody by a police officer without an order of a judge when there is reasonable grounds to believe that the minor received a fee to engage in prostitution.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1902, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1902, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair	____________________________ KARL RHOADS, Co-Chair
	____________________________ SCOTT Y. NISHIMOTO, Co-Chair