The Texas Hotel and Lodging Association (THLA) and Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) are pleased to announce that Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently signed House Bill 390 into law. The legislation, which passed with nearly unanimous support, requires annual human trafficking awareness and prevention training for hotel employees. THLA and BEST supported this important bill as an effective means under state law for combatting human trafficking. The training requirements become effective on January 1, 2022.
THLA and BEST have long worked to prevent human trafficking across our state. For example, our organizations’ partnership initially led to THLA offering BEST’s training complimentary for all THLA members statewide. THLA also invested in its staff becoming BEST-certified instructors. Since 2019, more than 4,000 employees across 700 Texas hotels have completed BEST’s human trafficking awareness and prevention training. Now with Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 390, Texas can continue to lead the effort to end human trafficking.
Scott Joslove, THLA’s President and CEO, noted: “Our partnership with BEST helped us take on a leadership role in efforts to end human trafficking. The Texas hotel industry is proud to be as proactive as possible toward eliminating the tragedies associated with these illegal activities.”
Mar Brettmann, Ph.D., the Founder and Executive Director of BEST, stated the strategic importance of the THLA/BEST alliance: “The passage of this law underscores the strategic importance of BEST and THLA’s alliance. We look forward to the impact that this law is going to have on our shared goal of empowering Texas hospitality employees to prevent human trafficking.”
THLA and BEST will continue to further the impact of HB 390 by offering innovative training to Texas hoteliers statewide. After all, the legislation and our organizations all aim to accomplish the same goal: eliminate human trafficking.
Read more at the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association
