New Mexico Senate Democrats
For Immediate Release: February 7, 2017
Contact: Zach Marcus (505) 986-4882 Zachary.Marcus@nmlegis.gov
Senator Bill O’Neill Bill to “Ban the Box” Heads to the Senate Floor
(Santa Fe, NM) Senator Bill O’Neill today passed legislation through Senate Judiciary Committee to ensure New Mexicans have adequate job opportunities despite what happened in their pasts.
Senate Bill 78 will prevent employers from including a question about prior convictions on job applications.
“We want the goal of our prison system to be punishing offenders certainly, but we also want those offenders to serve their sentences and rejoin society,” said Senator O’Neill.
“If we prevent people who have committed a crime from being able to find a job when they come home, we only force them to return to a life of crime to feed their families. That is simply unacceptable,” said Senator O’Neill.
This Bill now goes to Senate Judiciary Committee and then to the Senate Floor.
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