Title: Calling on States to implement "ban the box" legislation.
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
This resolution calls on states to implement legislation that prohibits inquiries related to conviction history during the initial processes of employment.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1198 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1198

      Calling on States to implement ``ban the box'' legislation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 20, 2020

Mr. Rush submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Calling on States to implement ``ban the box'' legislation.

Whereas systemic racism within the criminal justice system has led to deep 
        racial disparities within the population of Americans with felony 
        convictions;
Whereas a 2017 study from the University of Georgia found that while 8 percent 
        of all Americans have a felony conviction, 33 percent of African-
        American males have been convicted of a felony;
Whereas the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommends that employers 
        refrain from asking about conviction history on job applications and 
        limit their queries to job-related convictions or convictions that would 
        be consistent with business necessities if they choose to ask these 
        questions;
Whereas a 2018 report from the Brookings Institution found that one-third of all 
        30-year-old men in the United States who reported no annual earnings are 
        either incarcerated or formerly incarcerated;
Whereas the 2018 Brookings Institution report found that while only 49 percent 
        of prime-age men were employed 2 years prior to their incarceration, 45 
        percent of former prisoners reported no earnings in the year after their 
        release;
Whereas a 2003 study in the American Journal of Sociology found that stating a 
        criminal record on a job application reduces the likelihood of an 
        employer calling back a potential employee by 50 percent;
Whereas eliminating questions about an applicant's criminal history on their 
        initial applications would allow job applicants a fair hearing with 
        potential employers;
Whereas 13 States already prohibit private employers from asking questions about 
        a job applicant's conviction history;
Whereas an analysis by the Prison Policy Initiative found that, in 2008, 27 
        percent of formerly incarcerated individuals were unemployed, compared 
        to just 5.2 percent of the overall population;
Whereas the racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system are 
        reflected in our current employment statistics, as in the second quarter 
        of 2019, 6.1 percent of African Americans were unemployed, compared to 
        an overall unemployment rate of 3.5 percent during the same quarter; and
Whereas barring employers from inquiring about an applicant's history in the 
        initial application process does not affect their ability to conduct 
        background checks later in the hiring process: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        inquiries related to conviction history during the initial 
        processes of employment have the effect of deterring employers 
        from hiring those seeking to build productive lives within the 
        American workforce after their convictions and should be 
        prohibited; and
            (2) the House of Representatives calls on States to 
        implement ``ban the box'' legislation.
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