As a native resident of Portsmouth, Virginia, I have grown up witnessing shady business practices be allowed to stay in operation despite numerous calls to local authorities reporting suspicious behavior. As a previous resident of Norfolk, Virginia, I witnessed and reported instances of kidnapping, neglect, and domestic violence with minimal response. Digital identification and reporting platforms will allow citizens to help local and state law enforcement where funding and employees remain scarce. HB927 | Tata | Human trafficking; creates process for use of digital identification and reporting platforms, etc. is necessary for our state, especially in light of recent executive orders made by Governor Spanberger. Restricting communications with ICE directly impacts trafficking victims and their likelihood of being rescued. Any time we decide not to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies, we run the risk of more people being victimized through lack of accountably and informational gaps. With Governor Spanberger's former CIA background in intelligence gathering in the field, I find it surprising that she would go against cooperation with a government agency. This lack of accountability in her own administration regarding this decision is exactly why we are in need of citizen reporting, especially for our most vulnerable populations. Thank you.

IN SUPPORT OF HB927 Members of Virginia Delicacy, My name is Lindsey Gray. I am a board director for Virginia Coalition Against Human Trafficking, anti-trafficking operations coordinator in VA, a former EMT, behavioral health professional, certified Human trafficking investigator, a mother, a wife, and a SURVIVOR. I stand before you because I have seen the failures from every angle—as a child who slipped through the cracks, a young adult who felt those recurring consequences… and as a professional who watched others slip through those cracks too. At seventeen, I was trafficked out of a split-level house with curtains, a driveway, and a mailbox in an affluent neighborhood - Not an alley. Not a truck stop. A neighborhood that looked like yours by men who had friends and family who said nothing. During that time, I interacted with healthcare providers, teachers, and systems that should have seen me. They didn't—because they didn't have the tools. Later, working as a frontline professional, I watched it happen again and again. Patients presenting with signs we now recognize as trafficking indicators—but no standardized way to report concerns. No secure platform. No way to aggregate red flags. Just gut feelings and long sleepless nights, wishing we could have said something, or done something more with that “nauseating” intuition, instead of leaving to create secondary trauma in our frontline workers as well. HB927 changes that. This bill creates what we desperately need: a trauma-informed, anonymous digital reporting system that empowers frontline professionals to act on what they see. It doesn't replace 911 or the national hotline… it fills the gap where victims are falling through. We know tech has changed exploitation patterns with devastating efficiency w/ 89% of sexual advances happening on tech - and it has the opportunity to fight human trafficking as effectively. I survived because someone finally saw me, it’s never too late. But I wish they had seen me earlier, before the trauma compounded. Before it had affected my children. Before the sleepless nights. Now my sleepless nights get to mean something, they mean others may not have to experience quite as many as I have. This legislation ensures more people have the tools to see—and the privilege to act. Please support HB927. Thank you.

Chair and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Human trafficking is not a partisan issue. It is a public safety issue, a crime issue, and a human dignity issue—and HB 927 reflects that shared understanding. This legislation brings together principles that members on both sides of the aisle consistently support: protecting victims, strengthening law enforcement tools, safeguarding privacy, and using taxpayer dollars responsibly. At its core, HB 927 addresses a hard truth we all recognize: fewer than one percent of trafficking victims are ever identified. That is not because trafficking is rare—it is because identification is difficult under our current systems. Traffickers rely on fear, isolation, and silence. Victims often cannot safely make a phone call, wait on hold, or identify themselves without risk. When our systems rely on those methods alone, traffickers win. What makes HB 927 bipartisan is that it does not expand criminal statutes, create new mandates, or grow state bureaucracy. Instead, it modernizes how information reaches law enforcement and service providers, ensuring tips are actionable, routed correctly, and handled securely. This bill supplements existing systems—it does not replace them—giving law enforcement more usable intelligence while preserving existing authorities and processes. From a public safety perspective, this matters. Early deployment of certified digital reporting tools has shown dramatic increases in credible tips and faster connections to services—results that help law enforcement intervene earlier and more effectively. More tips, better triage, and real-time routing mean less time wasted and fewer victims missed. That is a win for investigators, prosecutors, and communities alike. From a survivor protection standpoint, HB 927 is intentionally trauma-informed and privacy-first. Reports can be anonymous. Data is encrypted. Retention is limited. Consent is central. These safeguards reflect bipartisan agreement that victims should not have to choose between safety and reporting, and that civil liberties must be protected even as we pursue criminals. From a fiscal standpoint, this bill is also pragmatic. Leveraging external partners it avoids costly state development of its own solution and staffing, while still requiring transparency, performance reporting, and independent evaluation from the operator to the General Assembly. That is responsible governance—leveraging innovation without burdening government agencies. In Virginia, survivors are already being identified and served—but the data is clear: identification reflects capacity, not prevalence. Where systems improve, identification rises. HB 927 is about building that capacity so fewer victims fall through the cracks and fewer cases go undetected for years. Members of this Subcommittee this is an opportunity to come together to protect victims, stop traffickers, and strengthen public safety. HB 927 reflects bipartisan values in action: smart policy, limited government, survivor dignity, and stronger law enforcement outcomes. I respectfully urge your support for HB 927 and thank you for your leadership on public safety.

I am writing to oppose the current slate of firearm restriction bills before the General Assembly. While these proposals are framed as public safety measures, in practice they disproportionately harm marginalized Virginians — including racial minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals (especially trans people), immigrants, and low-income residents — who often face higher risks of targeted violence and slower or unequal police response. These bills add costs, delays, and bureaucratic hurdles to exercising a fundamental right. Increased fees, mandatory waiting periods, feature bans, and expanded disqualifications fall hardest on people with limited financial resources, unstable work schedules, or justified concerns about their personal safety. For many vulnerable individuals, the ability to lawfully and promptly acquire a firearm is not about ideology, but about self-defense. History shows that restrictive gun laws are most aggressively enforced in minority communities, amplifying disparities in arrests, prosecution, and legal exposure — even when no harm has occurred. Expanding civil liability, criminal penalties, and subjective risk standards increases that risk. Public safety should not come at the expense of civil rights or equal access to self-protection. Policies that price people out of their rights or delay lawful self-defense do not address the root causes of violence and instead leave the most vulnerable less safe. I respectfully urge you to oppose these bills and support approaches that protect both public safety and the rights of all Virginians, regardless of income, identity, or background. Thank you for your time and consideration.