(Santa Fe) — A bill to “ban the box” on private job applications asking if someone has a criminal conviction passed the New Mexico Senate Passed this afternoon on a vote of 22-20. SB 583, the Criminal Offender Employment Act Eligibility bill, sponsored by Senator Bill O’Neill (D-Bernalillo) and Representative Alonzo Baldonado (R-Valencia), will remove barriers to employment for people with criminal convictions by removing the question on private job applications asking if a person has ever been convicted of a felony. New Mexico law already has a ban the box law for public employers; SB 583 extends the current Criminal Offender Employment Act to include private employers. Six other states have already successfully expanded Ban the Box to the private sector (Hawaii, Kansas, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and New Jersey).

Read more here: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2015/03/ban-box-bill-passes-new-mexico-senate