A group of California Democrats put the nail in the coffin for a bill that would classify child trafficking as a serious crime.
On Wednesday, members of California's overwhelmingly Democratic State Assembly moved the bill to "the suspense file," which, according to Sacramento's CapRadio, is a parliamentary procedure that allows some bills to "be killed without public debate."
For the bill to make it out of the "suspense file," it must pass a closed-door hearing with high-ranking legislators. The appropriations chair and possibly the top leaders in each legislative chamber would have the final say on which bills pass and which are held.
The committee's primary purpose is to analyze the financial impact of bills, and the child trafficking bill would have a fiscal impact of over $150,000.
The bill's author, Republican Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), attempted to keep the bill off the suspense file but was unsuccessful in convincing the committee to pass the bill. She slammed the committee for putting a price tag on the victims of human trafficking.
"I want to make it very clear that there's no price tag that can be placed on a victim of human trafficking, especially a child," Grove said. "Selling a child to be raped over and over again is a crime that is so grotesque, immoral, and barbaric; it should be prevented and stopped at any cost."
The Republican also brought two child trafficking victims to the hearing to better help her case. One of the victims was Briana Moseley, whose sister allegedly died after struggling with mental health issues after being brutally raped by her trafficker and his friends— the trafficker reportedly walked free.
If passed, the bill would "classify trafficking of children and teenagers younger than 18 years old as a serious felony on par with murder, arson, and rape." While a bipartisan Senate majority passed the bill, six Democrats in July blocked it from advancing in the Assembly.
Grove said that the Democrat-run state of California "has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the top states for human trafficking in the United States. Thousands of people, many minors, are forced into sexual and labor exploitation each year."