A proposal to help people escape the horrors of human trafficking passed the Illinois General Assembly today.

The measure requires the state government to post signs warning about the dangers of human trafficking and display the phone number of the national human trafficking hotline in high-traffic areas, such as truck stops, bus stations, train stations, airports and rest stops.

“We need to make sure that human trafficking phone number is posted in places victims might actually see it,” said state Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield). “Public transit hubs are among the few places they actually see.”

More than one study has identified Chicago as a national hub of human trafficking, but exact numbers are hard to pinpoint. A 2007 study estimated that 16,000 to 25,000 women and girls are involved in the commercial sex trade in the Chicago metropolitan area, and at least some of them are likely victims of human trafficking.

In response to a recent federal court ruling in support of Highland Park’s assault weapons ban, state Senator Julie Morrison introduced a measure to restore the right to ban assault weapons to every city and village in the state.

“This is about local control,” the Deerfield Democrat said. “Highland Park decided to protect its citizens by banning assault weapons. Every other city and village in Illinois should have that same right.”

The highly controversial 2013 law that allowed Illinois residents to carry concealed weapons also prohibited local governments from banning assault weapons.

A proposed law to address problems at the Department of Children and Family Services has cleared the Illinois Senate. The law would require DCFS to force child care facilities that provide homes to some of the most troubled children in the state’s care to take immediate action when an employee commits an act of abuse or neglect or fails to report a similar incident involving staff or other children.

Employees that endanger kids or fail to report abuse would face immediate discipline.

“These are children who have lived through abuse, neglect and abandonment. We fail them when they are beaten, raped, allowed to prostitute themselves or allowed to run away at a DCFS facility,” said state Senator Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield), the measure’s sponsor. “Any employees of a child care organization who are knowingly not keeping these abused and neglected children safe should be disciplined – up to and including losing their jobs.”

A proposal to help people escape the horrors of human trafficking passed the Illinois Senate today.

The measure requires the state government to post signs warning about the dangers of human trafficking and display the phone number of the national human trafficking hotline in high-traffic areas, such as truck stops, bus stations, train stations, airports and rest stops.

The sponsor of the legislation, state Senator Julie Morrison, explained that the idea for the bill came from 2014 media reports about failures at the Department of Children and Family Services.

“When I learned that DCFS wards at residential treatment centers were essentially selling themselves into prostitution, I was furious,” said the Deerfield Democrat. “Some of the girls who told their stories talked about traveling through truck stops and bus stations, which made me think these transportation hubs are the perfect place to post the human trafficking hotline number.”