[V]ermont may become the ninth state in the nation to ban private sector employers from inquiring about a job candidate’s criminal history in the first round of applications.
The so-called “ban-the-box” bill would eliminate the tick box on initial application forms that asks about a candidate’s criminal history, which could include a conviction, arrest or arraignment.
The measure is one of several bills related to the criminal justice system that the House took up in a banner day of work on the floor Thursday. Other bills look at incarceration, drunken driving and stalking.
The ban-the box bill, H.261, aims to help people with criminal backgrounds get a foot in the door when seeking employment. The law would ban a checkbox on job applications for crimes committed. Advocates say the measure will prevent applications from former convicted criminals from being automatically discarded.
The law would only apply to the first round of applications — potential employers could ask for that information in interviews and subsequent applications.
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, spoke in favor of the bill on the floor. The measure, she said, prevents employers from relying on “a reflex” that may cause them to discard an application because of a criminal charge.
Rep. Barbara Rachelson, D-Burlington, said the legislation would help people with convictions overcome a “lifetime of stigma.”
But other members of the chamber argued against the bill, saying that it will be an additional burden on small Vermont businesses.
Rep. Ronald Hubert, R-Milton, said that the requirement adds too much of a burden to small businesses.
“But my concerns with this well-intentioned bill is once again you’re taking another tool away from the people who actually are employing people, the people who are trying to drive the economy of this state,” Hubert said.
Hubert said that the initiative is adding to a mounting pile of requirements on small businesses.
“Somewhere along the line, these thousand little paper cuts are going to make us bleed to death,” Hubert said.
The bill passed the House on a vote of 138 to 5. If it passes a final vote in the House Friday, it will move to the Senate.
Stalking and Traffic Safety
H.818, a bill that aims to ease the policy of getting a civil protection order for stalking, passed the House on a voice vote with no dissent Thursday.
Rep. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said advocates testified that when Vermonters apply for civil protection orders in cases of stalking, three out of four times they are not granted.
One constituent who applied for an order testified that a judge told her: “I wasn’t threatened enough,” the constituent said of the judge’s determination, Grad recalled.
Victim’s advocates say the current process for getting a civil protection order is unclear. The legislation would help to ensure that people can access legal protection when they are being stalked, said Auburn Watersong, of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
“It’s about making sure the victim has a right to say, you need to stay away,” Watersong said.
Earlier drafts of the legislation raised concerns among some about First Amendment implications.
Watersong said that she and others worked closely with the committee to address those concerns. The final bill, she said, is respectful of speech protected under the Constitution.
Some opponents objected on the grounds that it isn’t necessary.
“In our view, frankly there wasn’t anything that needed fixing,” Defender General Matt Valerio said Thursday.
Valerio said that the committee had changed the bill to remove some of “the more offensive” provisions, making the bill “a lot more palatable.”
However, Valerio said, the Defender General’s Office is “leery” of changes to laws like this.
“We’re a long way from having a change in the law at this point,” Valerio said.
The bill comes up for a final vote on the House floor Friday. If it passes, it will move to the Senate.
The House also gave preliminary approval to H.560, a bill that changes the laws around driving under the influence to incentivize the use of interlock devices — machines that attach to a car’s ignition and require the driver to pass a blood-alcohol test before starting a vehicle.
The bill passed on a voice vote and will be up for third reading on Friday.
Incarceration reform
The House gave final approval Thursday to two bills that aim to reduce the incarcerated population in Vermont.
One measure, H.623, would make inmates older than certain ages eligible to be considered for parole before completing their minimum sentence.
Inmates age 55 through 64 would have a chance to apply for parole after serving 10 years behind bars, so long as they have completed any required programming. Inmates age 65 and older would be eligible after five years if they’ve finished their programming.
Those inmates would still need to put together a plan for parole, which includes an approved residence, according to Department of Corrections Commissioner Lisa Menard. Victims will likely also have the opportunity to weigh in, she said.
Menard said that she understands the basis of the proposal in light of Vermont’s aging prison population. But she emphasized that the “appropriateness of the plan will still be the deciding factor.”
The other bill, H.769, aims to reduce the incarcerated population in Vermont by changing opportunities for furlough and parole.
The legislation also allows for DOC caseworkers to take on higher caseloads of low-risk offenders, which, Menard said, allows the department to “put additional staffing resources toward supervising higher risk offenders.”
Both bills passed on voice votes Thursday. They now head to the Senate.
