Fair Chance Act
Latest action · Apr 24, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Readiness.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedApr 5, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2017 or the Fair Chance Act
This bill prohibits federal agencies and federal contractors from requesting that applicants for employment disclose criminal history record information before receiving a conditional offer (an offer of employment conditioned upon the results of a criminal history inquiry). The bill sets forth positions to which such prohibition shall not apply, such as positions for which prior consideration of criminal history record information is otherwise required by law, positions with law enforcement and national security duties, and positions requiring access to classified information.
The bill prohibits agencies from requiring an individual or sole proprietor who submits a bid for a contract to disclose criminal history record information regarding that individual or sole proprietor before determining the apparent awardee.
The Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Compliance, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the General Services Administration, and the Department of Defense must: (1) establish procedures for submitting complaints about, and taking actions against, agency employees and contractors for violating such prohibitions and for appealing such an action; and (2) issue regulations to implement this bill. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council shall revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement the requirements of this bill.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics, in coordination with the Bureau of the Census, must: (1) design and initiate a study on the employment of individuals who are released from federal prison after completing a term of imprisonment for a federal criminal offense, and (2) report to Congress at specified intervals.
Cosponsors 25
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 5, 2017 to Jun 12, 2018; 13 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WA | Adam Smith | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-IL | Bill Foster | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| R-CA | Darrell Issa | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-NJ | Donald M. Payne, Jr. | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-CA | Karen Bass | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-VA | Robert C. "Bobby" Scott | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-NY | Sean Patrick Maloney | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-TX | Sheila Jackson Lee | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Original | Apr 5, 2017 |
| D-LA | Cedric L. Richmond | Apr 25, 2017 | |
| D-CA | Jerry McNerney | Apr 27, 2017 | |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Jun 26, 2017 | |
| D-MI | Brenda L. Lawrence | Jun 27, 2017 | |
| D-VA | Gerald E. Connolly | Jun 28, 2017 | |
| D-CA | Grace F. Napolitano | Nov 28, 2017 | |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | Dec 18, 2017 | |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Feb 26, 2018 | |
| D-FL | Charlie Crist | Mar 6, 2018 | |
| D-VA | A. Donald McEachin | Apr 10, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Yvette D. Clarke | Apr 13, 2018 | |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Jun 12, 2018 |
Committees 5
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Apr 5, 2017 |
| House | Committee on House Administration | Referred Apr 5, 2017 |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Apr 5, 2017 |
| House | Armed Services Committee | Referred Apr 5, 2017 |
| Strategic Forces Subcommittee | Referred Apr 24, 2017 | |
| Readiness Subcommittee | Referred Apr 24, 2017 | |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Apr 5, 2017 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 24, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.
- Apr 24, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Readiness.
- Apr 5, 2017Introduced in House
- Apr 5, 2017Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, Armed Services, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 59, April 5, 2017, page H2754.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 115-386 | NOMINATIONS OF JEFFREY GERRISH, GREGORY DOUD, AND JASON KEARNS65 pages | Finance Committee | Oct 5, 2017 |
| Serial No. 115-28 | CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM AND EFFORTS TO REDUCE RECIDIVISM161 pages | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Jun 28, 2017 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 842 | Fair Chance Act | Related bill | Sep 25, 2017 |
| HR 3470 | Fair Chance Act | Reintroduction of | Mar 23, 2016 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To prohibit Federal agencies and Federal contractors from requesting that an applicant for employment disclose criminal history record information before the applicant has received a conditional offer, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2017
- Fair Chance Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Congressional oversight
- Correctional facilities and imprisonment
- Criminal justice information and records
- Department of Defense
- Employee hiring
- Employee performance
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government studies and investigations
- Military procurement, research, weapons development
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
- Public contracts and procurement
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 5, 2017Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
