Back in February, advocates for sex worker rights in New York announced their intention to fully decriminalize prostitution in the state. But no one really suspected then that within two weeks, Democratic candidates for president would be pledging support for competing legislative visions of what they called (at times, incorrectly) sex work decriminalization. Quite suddenly, the enlightened thing to do—or at least to say you were doing—was to support these measures, a development that came as a shock even to many sex workers who had long campaigned for decriminalization. On Monday, that same group of advocates, Decrim NY, will see a bill they have helped draft introduced in the state legislature that promises to give practical shape to the goals sex workers have pursued for several decades. The bill is groundbreaking for the United States: If passed, it would make New York the first state to fully decriminalize sex work.

The New Republic has had a first look at the bill. The measure removes criminal penalties associated with adults selling and buying sex, and repeals parts of the law that have criminalized sex workers’ places of business along with “loitering for prostitution” in public. Their aim is grounded not just in criminal justice reform, but in more fundamental appeals to economic justice. “This is not just about decriminalizing workers or the absence of criminal codes. It’s about making sure people who work in the sex trades have access to making a living in the sex industry in a way that is not a crime,” said Audacia Ray, a member of the Decrim NY steering committee, a director at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, and a former sex worker.

The bill would also strike prohibitions on “promoting” prostitution, which can be used to criminalize any group of sex workers who work together, whether that is in the same workplace or remotely by helping each other advertise or screen potential clients. Compelling prostitution and promotion of prostitution involving cases of force, intimidation, or minors would remain a crime. “The things that actually protect people—it keeps those on the books,” said Jared Trujillo, a member of Decrim NY’s steering committee, the president of Legal Aid Society’s labor union, and a former sex worker. “As far as trafficking, you still can’t traffic people. As far as being able to purchase sex from someone who’s underage? All those protections [for minors] are still on the books.” This same bill also contains a critical provision permitting people with prior records for offenses decriminalized by the bill to have those convictions vacated. All together, for adults engaged in the sex trade, Trujillo said, “What it does decriminalize is really just existing.”

The New York bill is the most comprehensive sex work decriminalization measure in the country, though it is not alone. In Washington, D.C., a revised decriminalization bill was introduced last week with the backing of four district council members. These bills are now landing in the early phase of the 2020 campaign—the first in which multiple major candidates are, when asked, offering their proposals on changing laws against sex work. “Sex workers, not politicians, should lead the way in crafting sex work policy,” former Senator Mike Gravel tweeted. In a Data for Progress and Decrim NY poll released in May, Democratic voters said they support fully decriminalizing sex work by a 3-to-1 margin.

So now, for the first time in the 40-year history of the American sex workers’ rights movement, a state legislature may finally heed those demands.