On October 28, the Pennsylvania House Tourism, Recreation & Economic Development Committee advanced House Bill 1286 which proposes an amendment to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline Notification Act enacted on October 25, 2012. The proposed changes would establish mandatory human trafficking training for public lodging establishments such as hotels, motels, and online lodging and reservations companies, such as Airbnb and VRBO.
Previously, on October 2, CSE Institute Director Shea Rhodes testified before the Pennsylvania House Tourism, Recreation & Economic Development Committee in support of House Bill 1286.
The committee first heard from Joe Massaro, President of the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association (PRLA) and Sarah Bratko, Vice President and Policy Counsel for State and Local Government Affairs at the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) as they expressed support for an active approach to combatting human trafficking in the hospitality industry. In discussing the training, AHLA Vice President Bratko emphasized, “There isn’t one magic sign that we can point to which reflects the challenging nature of identifying these types of crime. It’s about identifying red flags and having a system to address them.”
PRLA President Massaro shared his own experience completing the training established by AHLA through the No Room for Trafficking Initiative. As a part of this initiative, in 2022, AHLA established a fund to provide support for local organizations that serve survivors of human trafficking.
The proposed bill will bolster this training to help employees learn to identify potential victims and utilize the system of reporting within their place of employment so law enforcement can be contacted if necessary. After completing the training employees are 80% more likely to recognize and report signs of trafficking. Further, AHLA Vice President Bratko and PRLA President Massaro advocated for bringing owners of short-term rentals into the conversation as traffickers have moved to using private rentals as a result of the increased awareness at hotels and chain lodging options.
“The timing of this legislation could not be more critical as Pennsylvania prepares to welcome the world as we look toward MLB All Stars, 250th Anniversary, and FIFA,” said Massaro. “They are exciting events, but they bring a heightened risk.”
Following this panel, Heather Castelino, Chief Deputy of the Human Trafficking Section of the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Brad Ortenze, Director of Zoe International, Kirsten Kenyon, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), and Kathy Buckley, Director of PCCD’s Office of Victims’ Services spoke about the prosecution of human trafficking and the funding of various resources for survivors and the community.
In prosecuting human trafficking cases, Chief Deputy Castellino emphasized part of the comprehensive Human Trafficking Statute passed in Pennsylvania in 2014, creating liability for businesses. Under the statute, hotels can be subject to penalties of up to $1 million dollars for benefiting from trafficking occurring on their premises which could also be applied to short term rentals. However, a barrier to this prosecution is resources. With limited resources, the State primarily focuses on the prosecution of traffickers which creates a catch-22 for survivor support resources that depend on prosecutions for funding.
By not having the resources to pursue prosecution of the businesses that benefit from trafficking, Executive Director Kenyon and Director Buckley explained that this limits the amount of funding PCCD can collect for the Victim’s Compensation Assistance Program and PCCD’s grant to fund resources for both survivors and the broader community.
The CSE Institute supports the push for mandatory training for public lodging establishments and advocates for the implementation of similar requirements for short-term rentals. However, the primary focus as stressed by Rhodes’ testimony, is supporting survivors by not criminalizing them, extending the vacatur statute to allow broader record clearing for survivors of trafficking, and fighting demand by targeting all offenders responsible for human trafficking including the traffickers, buyers, and any third-party facilitators. Third party facilitators can be anyone from bookkeepers for trafficking enterprises to property owners of establishments being used for commercial sexual exploitation such as illicit massage businesses, hotels, and short-term rentals.
“This is the oldest oppression,” said Rhodes, explaining the history of trafficking and the affected population. “Women and girls truly have borne the brunt of the harm suffered in the sex trade.”
Going back to the first Annual Report published by the Institute, Director Rhodes pointed to multiple examples like the East Exit Motel, Sheraton Station, Holiday Inn, Courtyard Marriot, and Day’s Inn located throughout Pennsylvania which were used regularly by various traffickers in 2015. Subsequent Institute Annual Reports created in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2025, all held accounts of trafficking taking place in hotels from the most urban to the most rural counties in Pennsylvania.
“These are very clear examples of how hotels can be our allies in this fight,” said Rhodes. “They need to be our allies in this fight. I think this legislation is a no brainer and I hope that it is just a start.”
The CSE Institute will provide updates on the bill’s progression.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.