For Immediate Release:
Senator Bill O’Neill bill to “Ban the Box” moves forward with Bipartisan Support
(Santa Fe, NM) Senator Bill O’Neill today passed legislation through Senate Public Affairs 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.
“Once people have served their sentences and paid their debt to society we shouldn’t continue to punish them,” said Senator O’Neill.
“We need to make sure they are able to return to being productive members of society. If we prevent people from restarting their lives when they return from prison we only make the likelihood they’ll be reincarcerated. That doesn’t make sense,” said Senator O’Neill.
This Bill now goes to Senate Judiciary Committee and then to the Senate Floor.
###