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Weaker Human Trafficking Bill Passes

Person stands in a lit hall
Wikimedia Commons
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The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Strip clubs, massage studios and hospitals will have to hang signs alerting people about human trafficking under a bill that's going to Gov. Rick Scott.

The Senate unanimously passed the bill (HB 369) Wednesday. It's a weaker version of a bill it approved last week and the House later changed.

The signs provide a telephone number people can call if they or someone they know are being enslaved as prostitutes, farm workers, housekeepers or restaurant, retail or factory workers.

The Senate also wanted to post the signs at highway service plazas, farms, train stations and airports but had to accept the House version or let the bill die because House members quit their session three days early.

The bill would take effect Jan. 1.