RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed more than 100 bills into law this week, including bipartisan legislation to combat labor trafficking and hate crimes. He also vetoed four bills.
Youngkin signed HB 633 on Wednesday. The goal is to eliminate labor trafficking or forcing people to work against their will through fraud, coercion or force. It passed in the House and Senate unanimously.
“We are going to eradicate human trafficking,” said Youngkin at a bill signing ceremony on Wednesday. “And a big step of that is taking on problems with our legal framework to combat labor trafficking.”
HB 633 criminalizes anyone who organizes or profits from forced labor, no matter what kind. Along with it, Youngkin signed five others that increased penalties for human, sex and labor trafficking.
“60% of human trafficking is sex trafficking, but about 40% is labor trafficking, so this is indeed the most vulnerable of our society,” said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. “I think the message the Governor is sending today is that human trafficking for labor is as inexcusable as sex trafficking.”
The bill would also allow Commonwealth’s attorneys to bring labor trafficking cases to trial. With the current system, those cases must be referred to federal prosecutors.
The Governor signed another piece of bipartisan legislation Tuesday. The SB 7, HB 18 pair establishes the Virginia Human Rights Act. It protects Virginians from discrimination based on race, religion, age, sexual orientation and more in schools, the workplace and other public places.
Among the more than 100 bill signings, four pieces of legislation did not get the Governor’s seal of approval.
HB 1088 would have required the State Board of Education to make instructional materials on climate change and environmental literacy available to local school boards.
The second bill centered around college and university faculty requests for non-confidential garnishment data. The third and fourth would have established certain signage requirements for businesses that sell invasive plants.
The bills signed this week will go into effect on July 1.