Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
Supporting the Federal Fair Chance Act.
Body
WHEREAS, more than 70 million Americans with criminal backgrounds face significant barriers to employment, such as employers categorically bypassing job applicants with an arrest or criminal conviction without consideration of their skills or qualifications; and
WHEREAS, these challenges limit formerly incarcerated Americans’ access to job opportunities and thereby increase the likelihood of recidivism; and
WHEREAS, the City of Madison, along with countless other cities have enacted a local “Ban the Box” policy in order to better enable people with criminal records to overcome the barrier of having to check the box demonstrating that they have a past felony conviction on job applications; and
WHEREAS, these reforms can save taxpayer dollars while restoring liberty and justice to this often marginalized population; and
WHEREAS, U.S. Senator Cory Booker introduced the Fair Chance Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill that, among other things, would ban the federal government and federal contractors from requesting criminal history information from applicants until they reach the conditional offer stage; and
WHEREAS, the bill was co-sponsored by both Senator Tammy Baldwin and Senator Ron Johnson, and was unanimously passed by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in October 2015; and
WHEREAS, the legislation will help formerly incarcerated Americans seeking employment with federal agencies or government contractors, and represents a tangible step toward rethinking our approach to criminal justice in order to better serve individuals as they reenter our communities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Mayor of the City of Madison thanks Senators Booker, Baldwin and Johnson for their work on this bipartisan bill; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of Madison calls upon the United States Congress to pass the Fair Chance Act and for President Obama to subseq...
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