Bill Text: HI SB3347 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To The Right To Exit The Sex Trade.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-10 - Referred to HHH, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 24 [SB3347 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SB3347-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
3347 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE RIGHT TO EXIT THE SEX TRADE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that mainstream American feminism has focused on the right to engage in prostitution, thus overshadowing the indigenous and transnational feminists' call for women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer ohana to have the right to refuse to engage in prostitution or endure recurring sexual assault to survive. Native Hawaiian women, women of color, and sexual and gender identity minorities deserve the same right as affluent, college‑educated, or white women to exit the sex trade. The right to exit prostitution does not meaningfully exist for most people in the sex trade.
The legislature also finds that generally, the right to leave patriarchal institutions is one of the rights that is most denied to women. The legislature further finds that an appropriate alternative would be to establish a pilot program to support the economic survival of those wanting to exit this patriarchal system. This course of action would address the tendency of our social institutions to criminalize those who are forced to engage in prostitution and instead encourage compassion for people ensnared in the sex trade.
The purpose of this Act is to establish a pilot program to provide up to one year of guaranteed income to people who are economically coerced or trapped into the sex trade, including sex trafficking victims, and who are seeking to exit the sex trade.
SECTION 2. (a) There is established within the department of human services a one-year pilot program to provide a basic income to qualified adults who are verified victims of sex trafficking, or who are female or sexual and gender minority individuals seeking to exit the sex trade.
(b) The department shall administer the pilot program in the following manner:
(1) The target number of program applicants shall be two hundred fifty;
(2) An applicant shall:
(A) Be a Hawaii resident who is eighteen years of age or older;
(B) Demonstrate the applicant's status as a victim of sex trafficking or as a female or sexual and gender minority individual seeking to exit the sex trade; and
(C) Provide documentation, from a nonprofit organization, community-based program, or other organization that provides housing, shelter, education, substance abuse counseling, or gender‑based violence support for victims of sex trafficking or prostitution, that attests to the applicant's status in subparagraph (B); and
(3) The personal information of applicants and program participants, including name, age, date of birth, and contact information, shall be kept confidential within the department and shall not be disclosed to any member of the public.
(c) Applicants shall not be required to seek employment or further education to be eligible to participate in the pilot program.
(d) The department shall provide to each qualified applicant a basic monthly income of $2,000 for a period of up to one year; provided that the basic monthly income provided by the pilot program shall be exempt from state income taxes and, to the extent permissible under federal law, shall be exempt from being considered income for the purposes of determining eligibility and benefit amounts under relevant public assistance, social services, and financial aid programs.
(e) The pilot program shall terminate after one year of operation.
(f) The department shall submit a report of its
findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the
legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session
of 2023.
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $6,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 to administer and fund the pilot program established by section 2 of this Act.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of human services for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.
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INTRODUCED
BY: |
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Report Title:
Prostitution; Sex Trafficking; Victims; Basic Income; Pilot Program; DHS; Report; Appropriation
Description:
Establishes
a 1-year pilot program within the Department of Human Services to provide a basic
monthly income of $2,000 for up to 1 year, to qualified persons who are verified
victims of sex trafficking, or who are female or sexual and gender minority individuals
seeking to exit the sex trade. Requires the
Department to keep confidential the personal information of applicants and program
participants. Appropriates moneys. Requires report to the Legislature.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
