The authors of the bill are reluctant to remove regulations against consumers in order to pass legislation, a California human trafficking bill to combat child sex trafficking.
Democratic state legislator Maggy Krell agreed to remove a clause from Parliament Bill 379 that states that buyers of sexual acts aged 16 and 17 will face felony charges, leaving adult bids for those minors considered misdemeanors.
Crair told Fox News Digital Numbers Digital Numbers, “To obtain a hearing on the bill, we were forced to remove part of the bill to ensure that the crime of buying minors in all cases where the victims are under the age of 18.”
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Views on the California Capitol Building on March 13, 2024 at the California National League of Legislative Advocacy Day in Sacramento, California. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images of the National Urban Alliance)
“I totally disagree with this amendment,” she added. “It’s my lifelong work and I will continue to work with survivors of sex trafficking and law enforcement to ensure that all minors are protected from the fear of sex trafficking.”
Krell noted that the bill still criminalizes crimes, “the tiny soldiers who wander to buy sexual acts and build funds to help victims. These will be powerful tools to fight sexual trafficking – and it’s a great start.”
California parliamentary Republicans quickly criticized Democrats for the change.
"Why are some @AssemblyDems planning to cut felony for adults who purchase children aged 16 and 17?" California Parliament posted on X. "No excuses. Protect the children. Not predators."
Media reports earlier said lawmakers wanted to postpone the bill and could hold an information hearing on the issue in the fall.
The bill came together after being excluded from state laws that came into force this year after older age, which made buying children aged 15 and under a felony. Last year, California Sen. Shannon Grove wrote a bill that makes buying minors for gender illegal, but does not include children aged 16 and 17.
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Democrat California parliamentary raiser Maggy Krell said Monday that she agreed to remove a provision in the Child Sex Trafficking Act to ensure that the offence of buying a minor in all cases where the victim is under the age of 18. (gashermember maggy krell)
Currently, traffickers, not buyers, face the worst consequences when convicted of trafficking people under the age of 18.
AB 379 faces a critical deadline this Friday and deletes Tuesday's meeting from the Public Safety Commission agenda.
Republican Rep. David Tangipa said the move was a way to kill bills that lawmakers don’t want to be tried. If Krell doesn’t want to accept the amendment, committee chairman Nick Schultz will have discretion on whether the legislation should be heard, Tipa said.
"Obviously what they want to do is remove the 16- and 17-year-old parts of the bill and then add fines and fines," Tangipa, a relative who was previously trafficked, told Fox News Digital. “It actually sounds like California is participating in prostitution and trafficking itself.”
Fox News has contacted Schultz’s office and state Democrats.
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In an article on X, the California Republicans criticized the state Democrats, calling it "sad and disgusting, and it's even a Democratic debate."