California Democrats Redo ‘WTF’ Vote Against Making Child Trafficking a Serious Felony
14th July 2023
Under intense political pressure, California Democrats on Thursday reversed their dismissal two days earlier of a bill that would classify child trafficking as a serious felony.
Assembly Public Safety Committee chair Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D.), who criticized the legislation on Tuesday for its potential impact on racial minorities, this time voted to advance the bill unchanged along with three other Democrats. The two Republicans voted yes both times. None of the lawmakers spoke about why they were holding a redo vote.
The abrupt and unusual about-face came in an emergency hearing after public outcry over the panel’s first vote, which saw all the Democrats abstain and thereby block the bill from moving toward a vote by the full Assembly. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) had also applied pressure, saying Wednesday that he was “surprised” by the decision.