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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 14, 2013 09:37 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative James Clay, Jr. |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | "Ban the Box" (Re-Introduction) |
| In the near future, I will be re-introducing legislation - former House Bill 747 - that would amend the Human Relations Act to make several prohibitions to further protect Pennsylvanians. Specifically, my legislation would amend Section 5 of the Human Relations Act to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice to require an applicant to disclose a criminal history on an application for employment, unless the job has predetermined security regulations established by either the Federal or State Government. In addition, my bill would amend Section 5.3 to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice to require a person to disclose a criminal history on an application for housing accommodation or commercial property. Oftentimes, individuals struggle to find employment or housing based on a minor offense that may have happened many years ago. These individuals are frequently required to "check the box" on their job or housing application for having previous criminal convictions. It is my opinion that we should follow the lead of other states such as California, Connecticut, New Mexico, Minnesota, and Hawaii that have enacted similar "ban the box" legislation. Please join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation that will help numerous Pennsylvanians across the state find employment and housing. Previous Co-Sponsors: V. Brown, Wheatley, Youngblood |