Albany, N.Y. — Several New York lawmakers are planning a push to legalize prostitution in the state.

State Sens. Jessica Ramos, Julia Salazar, Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried are working on the bill with Decrim NY, a coalition of 20 different groups focused on the issue.

Ramos and Salazar discussed the idea in an op-ed published in the New York Daily News on Monday.

"Criminalization does not address why people trade sex, because most people trade sex out of economic need: to pay bills, make rent, and put food on the table," they wrote. "People often turn to sex work after a life event such as a major health-care bill leaves them economically vulnerable. LGBTQ, black and brown, immigrant and disabled communities engage in sex work at higher rates because they are locked out of jobs in the formal economy."

Criminalization of sex work contributes abuses by law enforcement, exposes people to exploitation and makes people vulnerable to violence, Salazar and Ramos also wrote.

They said their bill would repeal statutes that criminalize consensual sexual exchanges and create a system to erase prostitution records for sex workers and sex trafficking survivors.

“Trying to stop adult sex work shouldn’t be the business of the criminal justice system,” Gottfried said at a launch event for Decrim NY, according to The Daily Beast. “Throughout history, it hasn’t worked, and it makes things worse. Decriminalizing adult sex work is harm reduction.”

Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legal in some locations, according to NBC New York.

"We recognize the tremendous public education required to pass such a bill, but we believe New York can and should be the first to decriminalize sex work fully," Salazar and Ramos wrote.

Since Democrats assumed full control of the state Legislature in January, lawmakers have been rapidly passing bills on numerous issues that had previously stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. Cuomo has already signed bills on topics including child sex abuse, abortion, gun control and election reform in just the first few months of the year.

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