Newsom signs bill requiring human trafficking training at California colleges
By Andres Valle
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SACRAMENTO, California (KCRA) — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Tuesday requiring California colleges and universities that receive state financial assistance to strengthen their policies, employee training, and reporting procedures involving human trafficking.
Assembly Bill 1845 is intended to give college employees tools to recognize possible trafficking, report suspected cases, and support students who may have been exploited.
The measure was among the bills signed by Newsom ahead of the deadline to act on legislation passed during the legislative session.
“Campus should be a place of safety,” Sacramento State student Andrew Story said. “You want to go there, explore what you’re good at, and it shouldn’t be a place where you feel unsafe.”
Story said students should be able to be themselves without worrying about what could happen to them or their friends.
The legislation was authored by Democratic Assemblymember Maggy Krell of Sacramento, a former prosecutor. She said exploitation and human trafficking can occur on college campuses and that students and employees need resources to recognize and address it.
“It’s really important that colleges understand what’s at stake,” Krell said. “Faculty and staff and students themselves have tools and resources.”
Under the new law, affected postsecondary institutions will be required to provide annual employee training addressing sex and labor trafficking, warning signs and procedures for responding to and reporting suspected cases.
“This is a step in the right direction,” Krell said. “This ensures, at least, that faculty and staff will know how to respond, but also gives the power to the students to know what to look for and to hopefully prevent these kinds of things from happening.”
The law will also require campuses to clarify which law enforcement agency is responsible for investigating human trafficking, sexual assault and other serious crimes. Campuses must document reported trafficking cases and forward reports to the appropriate law enforcement agency as soon as reasonably possible, according to the legislation.
Krell said consistent reporting is necessary to support survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.
“When they’re sexually abused or sex trafficked or sexually assaulted, it’s not always believed, it isn’t always taken seriously,” Krell said of women and girls. “They’re rarely given the support that they need to move forward and rebuild their lives.”
Story called sex trafficking “one of the worst crimes” and said victims lose their bodily autonomy.
The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. Colleges must implement the required training, policies and reporting procedures by July 1, 2027.
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