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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workforce Justice Act 
of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) There are an estimated 70,000,000 adults 
in the United States with an arrest or conviction 
history. 
(2) Nearly 700,000 adults reenter their commu-
nities after incarceration every year. 
(3) Research shows that a conviction record re-
duces the likelihood of a job callback or offer by 
nearly 50 percent. 
(4) Employment is a critical factor in successful 
community reentry and reduction of recidivism for 
adults with a conviction history. 
(5) After two years, nearly twice as many em-
ployed adults with criminal records avoided another 
interaction with the criminal justice system com-
pared to their unemployed counterparts. 
(6) A study conducted by the Kellogg School of 
Management at Northwestern University found the 
turnover rate for employed adults with criminal 
records to be approximately 13 percent lower than 
individuals without criminal records. 
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE JAG 
PROGRAM. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS UNDER THE BYRNE 
JAG PROGRAM.—Section 505(a) of the Omnibus Crime 
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Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10156(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in paragraph 
(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘in paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—Beginning with the third 
fiscal year that begins after the date of the enact-
ment of the Workforce Justice Act of 2021, to be el-
igible for an allocation under this section, a State 
shall have enacted and be implementing legislation 
that prohibits private employers from— 
‘‘(A) requiring an applicant to disclose 
whether the applicant has a criminal record; 
‘‘(B) inquiring about the criminal record of 
an applicant prior to a conditional offer of em-
ployment; and 
‘‘(C) conducting a criminal background 
check on an applicant prior to a conditional 
offer of employment.’’. 
(b) REALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Section 505(f) of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 
(34 U.S.C. 10156(f)) is amended— 
(1) by amending the subsection heading to read 
as follows: ‘‘REALLOCATION’’; and 
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(2) by inserting ‘‘(including that a State is in-
eligible under subsection (a)(3))’’ after ‘‘receive 
funds under this subpart’’. 
Æ 
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