Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C-Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks) supports his colleagues in the Assembly Minority Conference in unveiling the 2025 New York State Assembly Minority Conference Human Trafficking Task Force Report. This task force, led by Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R,C-Pulaski) and co-chairs Assemblyman Brian Maher (R,C-Walden) and Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R,C-Ballston), aims to address supportive housing issues, improve victims’ services, strengthen criminal laws to hold traffickers accountable and increase training and awareness for professionals, students and the public.

In 2024, the task force spoke with nearly 200 individuals, including trafficking survivors, law enforcement, prosecutors, social workers, educators and other anti-trafficking advocates. Their input allowed the task force to develop an informative report and numerous recommendations for new proposals in the state Legislature.

“While there are individuals and organizations out there working every day to combat human trafficking statewide, we must address the current lack of coordination between anti-trafficking efforts at the local, regional and state levels,” said Smullen. “To properly assess and combat human trafficking on a larger scale, there needs to be effective collaboration among all parties involved in anti-trafficking work. I fully support our Assembly Minority Conference’s mission to pinpoint what our state could be doing differently to provide support services to victims, raise awareness of human trafficking and ensure traffickers who are caught are brought to justice.”