I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1598 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

condition eligibility for grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

Assistance Grant Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. TRONE (for himself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to condition eligibility for grants under 

the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 

Program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Justice Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) There are an estimated 70,000,000 adults 

2 in the United States with an arrest or conviction 

3 history. 

4 (2) Nearly 700,000 adults reenter their commu5 nities after incarceration every year. 

6 (3) Research shows that a conviction record re7 duces the likelihood of a job callback or offer by 

8 nearly 50 percent. 

9 (4) Employment is a critical factor in successful 

10 community reentry and reduction of recidivism for 

11 adults with a conviction history. 

12 (5) After two years, nearly twice as many em13 ployed adults with criminal records avoided another 

14 interaction with the criminal justice system com15 pared to their unemployed counterparts. 

16 (6) A study conducted by the Kellogg School of 

17 Management at Northwestern University found the 

18 turnover rate for employed adults with criminal 

19 records to be approximately 13 percent lower than 

20 individuals without criminal records. 

21 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE JAG 

22 PROGRAM. 

23 (a) ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE

24 JAG PROGRAM.—Section 505(a) of the Omnibus Crime 


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1 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

2 10156(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in paragraph 

4 (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—Beginning with the third 

7 fiscal year that begins after the date of the enact8 ment of the Workforce Justice Act of 2021, to be el9 igible for an allocation under this section, a State 

10 shall have enacted and be implementing legislation 

11 that prohibits private employers from— 

12 ‘‘(A) requiring an applicant to disclose 

13 whether the applicant has a criminal record; 

14 ‘‘(B) inquiring about the criminal record of 

15 an applicant prior to a conditional offer of em16 ployment; and 

17 ‘‘(C) conducting a criminal background 

18 check on an applicant prior to a conditional 

19 offer of employment.’’. 

20 (b) REALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Section 505(f) of 

21 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

22 (34 U.S.C. 10156(f)) is amended— 

23 (1) by amending the subsection heading to read 

24 as follows: ‘‘REALLOCATION’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘(including that a State is in2 eligible under subsection (a)(3))’’ after ‘‘receive 

3 funds under this subpart’’. 

Æ 


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