NEW, BIPARTISAN CLEAN SLATE LEGISLATION EXPANDS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, PROMOTES PUBLIC SAFETY
House Bill 1826 and Senate Bill 1314 Will Expand Pennsylvania’s Groundbreaking Clean Slate Law to Low-Level, Non-Violent Drug Offenses
Reps Delozier, Harris; Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, Justice Action Network's Jenna Bottler, Bipartisan Advocates available for interviews
Harrisburg, PA - Today, Pennsylvania lawmakers from across the political spectrum announced new legislation that would expand Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate laws. House Bill 1826 and Senate Bill 1314 build upon Pennsylvania’s groundbreaking Clean Slate laws, which have given more than 1.2 million Pennsylvanians access to meaningful employment, continuing education, and stable housing.
Since passing the first-in-the-nation Clean Slate Law in 2018, Pennsylvania has safely expanded economic opportunities for people across the commonwealth, expanded the talent pool for employers, and helped keep communities safer by supporting and incentivizing people who remain crime-free.
Representatives Sheryl Delozier (R-88) and Jordan Harris (D-186) introduced House Bill 1826; Senate Bill 1314 is sponsored by Senators Anthony Williams (D-8) and Scott Martin (R-13).
Both bills would expand Clean Slate’s automatic record-sealing to low-level drug felonies, after a person completes his or her sentence and remains crime-free for ten years.
Trafficking and other serious or violent offense are not eligible for Clean Slate, nor are any convictions where a minimum sentence of two-and-a-half years of imprisonment or more was imposed.
Clean Slate does not apply to offenses related to criminal homicide, assault, kidnapping or human trafficking, sexual offenses, offenses against the family, and offenses involving firearms or weapons.
During this morning’s hearing, the House Judiciary Committee heard from law enforcement, directly-impacted people, and state and national advocates from conservative, business, faith, and criminal justice organizations. They testified about Clean Slate’s benefits: expanding economic opportunity, incentivizing safe reentry, rewarding rehabilitation, and allowing people to better provide for their families and contribute to their communities.
Appearing at the hearing were Dauphin County District Attorney and Chair of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association’s Legislative Committee Fran Chardo, Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association’s Greg Rowe, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry’s Alex Halper, Americans for Prosperity-Pennsylvania’s Ashley Sisca Klingensmith, Franklin Together Reentry Coalition’s John Patterson, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia’s Katie Svoboda-Kindle, Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Patrick Purtill, Right on Crime’s Lars Trautman, Justice Action Network’s Jenna Bottler, and Gina Davis. They were joined at the press conference by Americans for Tax Reform’s Doug Kellogg.
More information about Clean Slate is available at www.MyCleanSlatePA.com
Representative Sheryl Delozier (R-88):
“Four years ago, we took the first step in supporting Pennsylvanians who have reformed their lives and worked hard to earn a second chance. In all of our communities, men and women were willing and eager to return to work, find stable housing, and provide for their families. Clean Slate helped them move on with their lives, and not be haunted by the mistakes of a decade earlier. This new legislation builds on that success, and I’m proud to stand with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle in taking the next step.”
Representative Sheryl Delozier
Representative Jordan Harris (D-186):
“We are quick to punish people who have committed a crime, and we should be. But to keep our communities safe, we must also be quick and eager to help them get back on track after they’ve served their sentence and stayed out of trouble. Clean Slate breaks down barriers to employment, education, and housing, and helps people stay on track. We’ve already seen Clean Slate work for 1.2 million people across the commonwealth, and we’re not done. I’m happy to be here with my partners in reform to help more Pennsylvanians get a fresh start and make our state safer and more prosperous.”
Representative Jordan Harris
Senator Anthony Williams (D-8):
“We all benefit when we welcome returning citizens, and support those who have paid their debt to society and proven their rehabilitation. Clean Slate helps people get back to work, continue their education, and contribute to their communities. Clean Slate supports people who have remained crime-free for a decade, and helps them stay on the right track. Clean Slate keeps us safer. Clean Slate works.”
Senator Scott Martin (R-13):
“We believe in second chances for those who truly seek it, and especially for those earning it through their actions over a significant period of time. This legislation is tailored for those seekers—people who made mistakes, paid their debt, and turned their lives around. I’m proud to stand with my colleagues in extending a second chance to tens of thousands of our friends, family, and neighbors who want to, and are, giving their best towards being productive members of society.”
Fran Chardo, Dauphin County District Attorney and Chair of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association’s Legislative Committee, and Greg Rowe, Executive Director of the PDAA:
“We were proud to have strongly supported the existing first-in-the nation Clean Slate Law. The rationale in support of Clean Slate remains strong: recidivism rates are lower among those who are employed after they are released. Record sealing helps lead to better opportunities of employment, and, therefore, helps to improve public safety.”
Alex Halper, Director of Government Affairs, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry:
“Advocates for and direct beneficiaries of Clean Slate report that this policy encourages individuals to reenter the workforce, look for employment, apply for and accept jobs. Employers report that individuals with a criminal record are often their best employees. We believe those expressing both of these sentiments. This population represents a potentially vast pool of under-tapped talent in Pennsylvania and we are urging action by lawmakers and employers to facilitate their employment. We support Clean Slate and H.B. 1826.”
Ashley Sisca Klingensmith, State Director, Americans for Prosperity – PA:
“We believe that accountability is an essential component of justice, but when someone has fulfilled the debt they owe to our community it is essential that we incentivize them to become productive citizens in their communities and avoid future criminal behavior.
H.B. 1826 presents an opportunity to reasonably build upon the success of these reforms and ensure people with a criminal record can secure a true second chance if they have proven their willingness to follow the law.”
Katie Svoboda-Kindle, Senior Staff Attorney of Community Legal Services:
“We need to expand Clean Slate now because we need to expand the workforce in Pennsylvania. People with old convictions want to work and do not pose a risk to others. But felony convictions, no matter how old, are a barrier to employment. Sealing these stale records means positions are filled and qualified workers get jobs.”
John Patterson, Steering Committee, Franklin Together Reentry Coalition:
“I, and others involved in the coalition, have found recipients of our support to overwhelmingly be people who want nothing more than to re-establish themselves in the community, obtain meaningful employment to support themselves and their families, and move forward with their lives without recidivism.”
Mr. Ball:
“I humbly ask the state legislature to pass the Clean Slate felony bill. Over the last 12 years, I have not had one incident with the law, and I plan to never have another one. I need a second chance to live a full life without barriers and to give my kids the financial support they need and deserve.
If this bill is passed, it would give me a better opportunity to have a stable job and income to support my family, my children."
Gina Davis:
“At the hearing, I shared my story, and talked about the weight that would be lifted from my shoulders, about the fear that I would no longer feel when applying for a job or housing, about the chance to be seen for everything I’ve done, not just the worst things.
Hearing all of those voices asking for a fresh start for people like me gave me hope, for the first time in a long time. I hope that the lawmakers were listening. I hope that they will expand automatic record-sealing. I hope that after 27 years, I can finally have a Clean Slate.”
Jenna Bottler, Deputy Director, Justice Action Network:
“The values and virtues of rehabilitation and redemption are at the core of the founding of our country and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s own delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin, wrote of the importance of the ‘eternal principle of justice and equity, that punishments should be proportioned to offences.’ Clean Slate recognizes this need to ensure that punishments fit the crime, that one bad day does not destroy an entire life, and that natural instinct to improve as humans and strive for more and better for ourselves, our families, and our communities.”
Patrick Purtill, Director of Legislative Affairs, Faith and Freedom Coalition:
“Crime should be punished. But punishment should not be forever. People who have paid their debt to society for low-level or non-violent offenses and who have reformed their lives deserve to be given a second chance and fully welcomed back into society. This is precisely the goal of the criminal justice system. We want people to pay their debts and to amend their lives. Those who do, should be rewarded, and restored to society—for their good, their families’ good, and in the best interest of our communities.”
Lars Trautman, National Director, Right on Crime:
“As a former prosecutor I want to highlight its impact on public safety. There were few greater predictors of whether I would see a particular defendant again in the criminal justice system than their ability to secure employment and housing. Restoring their ability to access these basic needs provides an incentive during the early stages of rehabilitation—the promise of normalcy down the road as a reward for good behavior—and facilitates their continued law-abiding conduct thereafter.
What is more, the research is clear that the overwhelming majority of individuals who will recidivate, will do so in the first few years, well before they gain relief under Clean Slate. The record sealing offered by Clean Slate is thus a tool to facilitate rehabilitation and to reward the rehabilitated.”
Doug Kellogg, State Projects Director, Americans for Tax Reform:
“Those who have paid their debt to society, and proved they can stay on the straight and narrow, have earned the second chance that Clean Slate policies offer. It’s a win for public safety, as people are incentivized to be contributing members of their communities, and it’s a win for the economy as their wages and the workforce both grow. We applaud Pennsylvania legislators for continuing to lead on Clean Slate.”
Responsible Business Initiative for Justice:
“Clean Slate is good for businesses, good for the economy, and good for communities. Expanding automatic record sealing will help employers find diverse, loyal, and underutilized talent to bolster the labor market. This, in turn, will benefit Pennsylvania’s economy – estimates indicate that the United States loses more than $80 billion in GDP each year due to the underemployment of people with records, and automatically sealing old records increases wages by more than 20 percent in the year after sealing. Removing barriers to employment also reduces recidivism, making Pennsylvania a safer place to live and work.”