ALBANY — The push to enact legislation that would erase the criminal records of more than 2 million people hit an impasse at the Capitol this week after the state Education Department raised concerns about schools hiring individuals whose backgrounds would be unknown.
The department, in a rare memo raising concerns about legislation that is not directly related to education, also noted that individuals seeking licensed positions would be able to do so without disclosing their New York criminal history.
“While the department supports the very laudable intent of this legislation, NYSED has an acute responsibility to students … that it cannot carry out under the bill,” the department said in a memo obtained by the Times Union.
Following publication of the story online, officials with the Education Department disputed who would be subject to a background check with an unsealed record for gaining employment or licensing through the department. The sponsor of the legislation contests it does cover who the department wants it to cover, including teachers.
The legislation would enable someone to have their most recent misdemeanor conviction sealed three years after their case is adjudicated and seven years after their most recent felony conviction — if they are not on parole or other court-authorized supervision. The legislative session for the year is scheduled to end Thursday.
It has garnered broad support from labor unions, including health care giant 1199SEIU, and major corporate sponsors that include JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft and Verizon.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has supported passing the Clean Slate Act, which lost momentum in the final days of last year’s session as well. Hochul placed a version of the policy in her budget this year, but it was taken out in the final hours of negotiations because of concerns on details that included the types of criminal convictions that could be sealed.
The governor had said the legislation was among her top priorities after the budget was finished.
But the bill has not been a part of the public-facing push from Hochul and top state Democrats as they have focused their attention in recent weeks on mass shootings and reproductive health care. There also have been distractions that include the indictment and resignation of former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin and court decisions that threw out the new political boundaries that had been created by the Democrat-led Legislature and that were signed into law by Hochul in February.
In the past several months, the Education Department has been pressing key Democratic lawmakers to avoid supporting the legislation until it incorporated the department’s concerns.
The legislation has been amended numerous times. When it was first proposed 18 months ago by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn, it proposed sealing and expunging criminal records for a wider range of criminal statutes. Proponents contend the legislation is intended to give those with criminal histories the ability to gain employment, rent properties and have other benefits that are often blocked or made difficult by their past convictions.
By the time it reached its fourth version on May 28, it had included input from public hearings, law enforcement, prosecutors, business leaders and the criminal justice advocates who have been laboriously fighting for the legislation.
In recent days, the final version included updates intended to directly assuage concerns from the Education Department. The policy, the sponsor argues, would allow the department to access sealed records for those seeking jobs with access to vulnerable populations, including children, who are also required to submit fingerprints during the hiring process.
Department officials disagree with the sponsor’s position on his bill, in particular with access to sealed records for teachers, aids, bus drivers and custodians, who fall under its Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability and for some employees under its Office of the Professions.
Last weekend, an official with the Education Department told lawmakers that the changes addressed some, but not all of their concerns — particularly for jobs that have direct contact with children.
The Clean Slate Coalition viewed it the opposite way, that the department wants people without direct contact to children to have their records unsealed and as a part of an effort by the department to gain blanket access, according to a spokesperson.
“I don’t think this is a good faith effort to have a conversations,” Myrie said in response Thursday. “I am disappointed that these concerns are being raised at the 11th hour.”
The proposed legislation states that sealed records can be accessed by entities that are authorized by state or federal law to request and receive a fingerprint-based check of their criminal history in relation to a “provision or care or services to children” and to “vulnerable persons.”
Still, some Assembly Democrats remain concerned that the legislation does not meet the needs of the Education Department.
It’s become a complex balancing act between protecting people who have been harmed by the stigma of a criminal conviction and the vulnerable populations at schools, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, D-Queens, after adjusting the bill to meet the concerns of the department and other public entities, has been trying to rally her colleagues to support the legislation.
Nonetheless, the Clean Slate Act had not been part of any key debates in the Democratic conference, led by Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, as of late Wednesday.
The behind-the-scenes efforts to tweak the proposal also have been overshadowed by negotiations on other issues that have confronted downstate lawmakers — who are the most vocal supporters of the bill — namely, mayoral control of New York City schools, according to multiple persons familiar with negotiations.
Myrie believes changes made last week on the bill sufficiently addressed the concerns of the Education Department.
The Senate passed the legislation Wednesday evening, following long debate and opposition from Republicans, who opposed wide swaths of the policy, including which violent felonies could be sealed from the view of private employers.
“This makes our lives more dangerous,” state Sen. Anthony H. Palumbo, R-Long Island, said.
Myrie, who has voiced his support at Capitol rallies in recent months, disagreed.
He said that the legislation is both a “jobs bill” and a “public safety bill.” He pointed to a person trying to provide for their family after serving their sentence for a conviction but finding it difficult to land a well-paying, stable job because of their criminal history.
Myrie said it’s hypocritical for his legislative colleagues to say they want people to have a job when their record leaves them “punished in perpetuity.” Some turn to committing new crimes in a cycle stemming from their lack of economic stability.
“We’ve shut every single door,” Myrie said on the Senate floor. “They’re going to go through the only door they know. It’s the only option we’ve left them.”
