Michigan’s Senate appears likely to vote in the coming weeks on bipartisan bills aimed at fighting human trafficking.
The bills would substantially increase penalties for people convicted of the crime.
Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) sponsored the package. He called it a bipartisan first step in “human decency."
“I'm a conservative Republican from Northern Michigan," Damoose said.
"And what moved me to take action on this was listening to a speech that Dana Nessel, our attorney general, gave where she thought there would never be any meaningful legislation passed in the state Legislature cracking down on human trafficking.” (Nessel is a Democrat.)
Damoose said he’s confident the bills will pass the state Senate and House even though other legislation introduced in the House this session seems to be languishing without a hearing.
The House proposals change the language in older laws, by replacing the term “prostitution” with “commercial sexual activity" in reference to trafficking survivors.
“We're not going to call victims of human trafficking 'prostitutes,' because that implies that they committed a crime. They did not," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi).
While both sets of proposals are bipartisan, Breen suggested that the reason the House bills have not gotten a hearing yet is partisan.
Republican House Speaker Matt Hall did not respond to a request for comment on the future of the bipartisan legislation.
Breen and Damoose both said the bipartisan, bicameral effort came about because of Michigan's poor record on human trafficking, as presented in the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission's 2024 Report to the Governor and Legislature.
The report cites data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline that ranks Michigan among the top 10 states for callers reporting suspected trafficking.
“We need to get these perpetrators behind bars. We need to stop what they are currently doing. And we need to give these victims the power and certainty to know that if they come forward, they aren't going to be charged with another crime because they were being abused,” said Breen.
Damoose said he hoped that when the Senate bills pass and go over to the Michigan House for a vote, that will prompt House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) to move the House bills forward as well.
“This should be a no-brainer that we can all, at the very least, have our fights about all these other things, but let's do what we can to help protect our kids and protect people who are being trafficked," Damoose said.
"So, I would find that a real failure of our entire legislative system if we can't get something like this done.”
In the meantime, both lawmakers are encouraging voters to voice their opinions to their elected representatives in Lansing.
"There is not a giant wall between us and the public. Their voices matter and it makes a difference when you call our offices. It really does," Damoose said, while at the same time acknowledging that some constituents may doubt that elected officials actually take their opinions into serious consideration.
"I mean, our job is literally to represent the people back home," he said.
