Let’s be crystal clear. I just voted yes on Assembly Bill 379, along with 18 Republicans, to create a new felony that protects 16- and 17-year-olds from being bought for sex, give law enforcement stronger tools to arrest Johns, stiffer penalties for businesses that don’t report or post human trafficking information, and create a fund to support survivors. It is abill the Republican leader, Assemblyman James Gallahher, said basically restored the original protections in the bill. Despite the many extreme and inaccurate attacks against me, including my former political opponent, The Signal and others, that strong bill hailed by the Republican leader is what I voted for. Plain and simple. But let’s go back even more.
There is a saying in the Legislature that you learn quickly, “don’t fall in love with your bills.” This is a hard rule for me to follow. I care deeply about making a difference for our community and I’ve fallen in love with many of my bills. But senior members of the Legislature give this advice because they know from experience, what your bill starts as will almost always be changed, amended and adjusted.
For about 20 years before getting elected, I was a nurse advocate and advocate for workers fighting for good jobs, retirement security and health care they could depend on. As an advocate, I often called out elected leaders, just like has happened almost every day this week in The Signal against me. I have often been very critical of my own party and Democratic leaders. I thought electeds were often spineless, too willing to compromise, and too afraid of hard votes. And certainly that can be true.
But I’ve been pleasantly surprised and my mind has even changed after being elected for a couple years now. I realized each legislator comes from a different community, with different politics, issues and priorities, and different personal passions. I realized this is part of the checks and balances of our system and serves an important purpose. The committee process is where amendments happen, and expert committee staff often help us improve our bills too — ensuring they comply with current laws and don’t have unintended consequences. While I would love to get my way on every bill and never have to take amendments, I would bet the Republicans are pretty happy most Democratic bills are adjusted through this process.
This brings me to AB 379. My colleague Maggie Krell called me about this bill back in January. I shared with her that I would support it on the Assembly floor and why I thought it was important. You see, I had joined a Los Angeles Police Department detective on a ride-along last fall to get a better sense of what law enforcement faces every night on the job. I asked him to take us to an area where there is prostitution and he did. I was shocked. I saw a line of cars and young women, at the front of the line with only bras and underwear on. This was happening on a residential street in South L.A. where I could only imagine the feelings of the kids, grandparents, mothers and fathers living in those homes. I was mortified.
The detective explained current laws mean LAPD would have to do a sting operation to catch each John in the act just to arrest them and LAPD didn’t have the resources for that. Assemblymember Krell, a career prosecutor before getting elected in November, confirmed that when we spoke. While there has been a lot of focus on other aspects of this bill, strengthening the loitering language, to be able to take away the demand, is a critical gap in law I saw firsthand. That was an important aspect of the bill and, in addition to expanding where felony charges can be applied, since existing law I also voted for last year already increases penalties for those who solicit or trafficked minors with a felony, was why I pledged my support for the bill to Krell before she had even introduced it. I also warned her that there would probably be amendments in committee — in this case, those amendments went way too far and then a flurry of Assembly floor votes made it even more confusing.
Which leads me to the week of attacks on me, my character, my motivation and my votes. As a mom and survivor of childhood sexual assault myself, putting my own predator behind bars before I was even a teen, I don’t waiver from protecting our youth. It’s clear and disappointing how these attacks on me are an attempt at a partisan smear of my character and my clear record on this issue, which is why I was endorsed by multiple law enforcement organizations. These attacks are disingenuous and a clear political stunt. I know this because if they weren’t, they would have reached out to me as a courtesy before printing the disgusting editorial published on May 10 to understand my vote. They would’ve printed my press release after I voted yes on AB 379, which included quotes from Krell and Gallagher, celebrating the strong bill we came together around. They would’ve pointed out how the bill was strengthened and would’ve shared that all 18 Republicans voted yes and applauded essentially restoring the protections of the original bill. They would’ve made clear I am not on the Public Safety Committee, where taking out 16- and 17-year-olds was agreed to. And while the many votes on the floor were confusing, they would’ve made clear that in fact, I voted to send a clear message that the bill needed to have the strongest protections for 16- and 17-year-olds — and to move the bill forward for stronger amendments in the only real path forward for improvements that existed. They would’ve confirmed I in fact supported the original bill, which they would’ve known if they’d called me or Assemblymember Krell – but they didn’t. So in the four articles published, none of the above was shared. And while The Signal has allowed my opponent and others to respond to my OpEd’s in the past, they didn’t offer me the same — keeping their hand firmly on the scale against me.
Looking back, I see how easy it was for me, as an advocate, to see issues as black and white and not burden myself with the reality of lawmaking, compromise, and having your work double checked. The hard work is struggling through a sometimes messy process to make sure you get the strongest possible bill that truly helps people. And that, in the end, is exactly what we did and what I stood for consistently from the beginning.
As a mom and a survivor who put my abuser behind bars, this experience continues to shape my view and actions when it comes to protecting children and victims of crime, and is one of the reasons I will always stand on the side of creating more support for victims and greater accountability for predators — especially those who target children and minors. Period.
Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, represents the 40th Assembly District, which includes most of the Santa Clarita Valley in addition to the northwest San Fernando Valley.
