Metro East Sun

Mike Babcock, the Republican candidate in House District 111, supports Gov. Bruce Rauner for signing two bills aimed at tackling human trafficking.  

“I am against human trafficking in the state of Illinois,” Babcock said. “Whatever we can do to stop it I am all for that. Absolutely.”

 

There have been 94 human trafficking cases reported in Illinois this year, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. The majority of those were for sex trafficking.

 

Statistics also show that from Jan. 1 to June 30 last year there were 61 human trafficking cases in the state. Those cases consisted of 215 identified victims that were reported to the center.

 

There were 84 missing children cases in Illinois between January 2010 and October 2015, and social work experts have said it is likely that most of these children have become victims of domestic human trafficking.

 

One of the bills, House Bill 2822, sets up a task force to examine the human trafficking situation in Illinois and report its findings to the General Assembly by June 30, 2017.

 

Part of their report is to include a state plan to address the issue and get a system for sharing human trafficking data between government agencies.

 

Babcock said if the task force could co-ordinate its efforts with the federal government it would be a “good thing.”

 

The second bill amends the state's public aid code and paves the way for human trafficking victims to get access to medical treatment regardless of any language or economic problems they may face. One of the changes allows medical assistance for persons identified by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) as victims of trafficking as well as persons who are foreign-born victims of trafficking, torture or other serious crimes.

Rauner signed both bills into law Aug 21.

 

Babcock is taking on state Rep. Daniel Beiser (D-Alton) in November's election. 

 

Babcock has aimed to run a campaign based on honesty, integrity, hard work and transparency. His community involvement includes serving on the Bethalto Police Pension, Riverbend Youth on Fire and Operation Thanksgiving Blessing boards as well as having served on the board of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Services East Side. Babcock has over 20 years in the insurance and financial industry.

 

Babcock also supported Rauner with regards to education spending.

 

“I am supporting Gov. Rauner’s plan of increasing school finding and the institutions that need the money the most, for the poor and those that are handicapped,” he told the Metro East Sun.

 

“I am a supporter of education, and I believe the schools right now are hurting for money, and under the (House Speaker) Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) plan, for the last year, he has been underfunding the schools.”