How Open Rebellion in State Legislatures Can Spark Remarkable Change

Recently, Assemblymember Maggy Krell, a freshman Democrat from Sacramento, made headlines by challenging her party's leadership to advance stricter penalties for soliciting sex from minors aged 16 and 17. Collaborating with moderate Democrats and Republicans, this initiative exposed fractures within the Democratic party, prompting Assembly leaders to engage in damage control. Ultimately, the Assembly voted decisively, amending the legislation to allow felony charges for those soliciting sex from individuals more than three years younger. It also heightens fines for businesses involved in trafficking and mandates state support for district attorneys tackling human trafficking cases. Republicans celebrated this as a triumph, urging Senate Democrats to preserve the bill's integrity. Krell, albeit demoted from primary author, expressed gratitude for the collaboration, asserting her resiliency: “I’m easy to work with, hard to f—k with.”