MADISON, WI- After speaking on the Assembly floor in favor of Assembly Bill 973—relating to: mandatory training regarding human trafficking for employees of community-based residential facilities and owners of certain entities and certain other employees and granting rule-making authority, Representative Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) released the following statement:

“First, I would like to thank Chair Jerry O’Connor and Vice Chair Jodi Emerson of the Assembly Speaker’s Task Force on Human Trafficking for their leadership. I would also like to thank Representative Rick Gundrum and Senator Dan Knodl for their collaboration on this bipartisan bill.

People who work in community-based residential facilities, various lodging establishments, private security firms, public transit, and adult entertainment businesses are more likely than the general population to have contact with human trafficking victims. Therefore, these professionals must be adequately prepared to recognize and intervene in human trafficking situations when they arise.

In the process of creating this bill, we carefully and narrowly tailored the list of employees required to take this training. Our goal is not to present another burden for business owners and their employees, nor is it to single out and punish specific industries. We simply want to increase education and awareness around this critical issue in the state of Wisconsin. Based on the fact that Wisconsin is earning an “F” from Shared Hope International for its efforts in addressing child and youth sex trafficking, our current efforts to prevent these crimes clearly isn’t enough.

By requiring standardized, accessible human trafficking awareness training for certain employees of these businesses, we improve the chances of identifying and stopping trafficking in our communities.”