Massage parlors focus of anti-human trafficking bill from Rep. Lauren Boebert - Colorado Public Radio

[mnews]

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert got the inspiration for her latest bill from the district she hopes to represent next term.

Boebert’s Human Trafficking Fingerprint Background Check Protection bill, introduced earlier this week, would require massage parlor owners and employees to undergo fingerprint background checks in an effort to crack down on human trafficking.

“We’ve already introduced it at a state level and I think it’s time to bring it at a federal level. I think it’s a good piece of legislation,” Boebert told CPR News. “I was talking with the Douglas County commissioners about it and happy to get the ball rolling on it."

It’s based on a 2023 ordinance enacted by Douglas County, in the 4th Congressional District, and a Colorado bill passed and signed into law earlier this year.

The Douglas County ordinance sets license requirements for massage facilities and requires background checks for the people working in them. The state law requires all other communities with these businesses to ensure they’re background-checking employees and owners.

Boebert’s bill also has additional requirements, including having law enforcement agencies report any criminal activity found during a background check and requiring owners and employees to take training on how to recognize and report signs of human trafficking.

Douglas County Commissioners issued a joint statement saying the congressional push is “vital.”

“Human trafficking is an issue that touches every corner of the nation, and this legislation provides important tools to combat it, ensuring the safety of our citizens,” wrote Commissioners Abe Laydon, George Teal and Lora Thomas.

State Sen. Bob Gardner was one of the prime sponsors of the legislation at the state Capitol that originally enabled local licensing of massage parlors, as well as the more recent bill around background checks.

Conceptually, he thinks having the background check requirement is important, but the conservative from El Paso County added, “I have a little question in my mind about, ‘Well, does the federal government need to tell state and local governments that they need to do this?’”

He’s pleased that others see Colorado as a good model, but he’d prefer to convince other state legislatures to enact this type of legislation rather than have it come from Washington.

Boebert, however, said that the fight against human trafficking should be addressed at all levels of government.

The House will be out from Thursday until November 12, so the bill, which currently has no other co-sponsors, is unlikely to advance in the remaining five legislative weeks of the 118th Congress.

Still, Boebert said if not this Congress, she hopes for it to gain traction in the next one.