[ad_1]
A bill that would increase penalties for child sex buyers in California could die before getting a vote amid concerns from state finance officials over the costs of housing additional prison inmates.
California lawmakers last week placed Senate Bill 1414 on “suspense file,” a list of bills that are expected to cost the state a significant amount of money, during an Aug. 7 meeting. The bill will either advance or be killed without public discussion in a special Thursday hearing.
“When we pursued this to prevent children from being trafficked, bought and sold in the state of California, we never thought in a million years it would be this difficult,” Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove, who introduced the legislation and is its primary sponsor, told Fox News Digital.
GOV NEWSOM ORDERS HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS TORN DOWN ACROSS CALIFORNIA: ‘NO MORE EXCUSES’
California state Sen. Shannon Grove, a Republican, speaks to lawmakers about Senate Bill 1414 during an Aug. 7 hearing. (California Assembly Appropriations Committee)
The bill would allow prosecutors to charge adults charged with soliciting minors with a felony. If the minor is younger than 16, or younger than 18 but a victim of human trafficking, the defendant would face up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The bill would also require adults convicted multiple times of soliciting a minor at least 10 years younger than them to register annually as a sex offender. Under the current law, soliciting or purchasing a minor for sex is a misdemeanor punishable by a minimum of two days in jail and up to a year or a fine.
During last week’s Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing, a representative for the California Department of Finance spoke in opposition to the bill.
“California has successfully remained below the court-ordered prison population cap and has even made strides towards closing prisons, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings,” Millie Yan, a Finance Department official,…
[ad_2]
