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Senate committee approves ‘Ban the Box’ after initially voting it down

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri Senate committee approved a measure today after initially defeating it last week that would prohibit the state from asking job applicants whether or not they have prior felony convictions.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a St. Louis Democrat, and is a part of a larger national movement known as “Ban the Box,” referring to a box on most job applications that ask potential employees to indicate a previous felony conviction. Nasheed says that applicants that check the box typically see their applications thrown out.

“They go right in the trash,” Nasheed said. “And we’re not just talking about violent offenders. We’re talking about someone who maybe had a drug conviction 30 years ago.”

Nasheed’s bill originally came before the Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence committee last week. Nasheed arrived that day at committee believing she had the necessary 5 votes to pass out of the 8 person committee. But at the last minute, Sen. Wayne Wallingford, a Republican, voted against the measure. Nasheed would take to the senate floor later that day and, without mentioning names, criticized Wallingford for “breaking his word.”

“Your word is all you have in this building, especially in the Senate,” Nasheed said at the time. “I worked extremely hard to get my colleagues to support [Ban the Box] and I came up with 5 votes and I knew I had the votes. I knew I had the votes because they told me they were with me. But someone breached the trust I had in them, one of my dear colleagues that I respect a great, great deal.”

Nasheed spoke with Wallingford after comments on the floor and Wallingford promised to make a motion to reconsider the bill in the next committee meeting. Only a senator who voted against a bill may make such a motion in committee.

“I wanted to keep my promise to her,” Wallingford said. “I still don’t necessarily agree with it, but it’s not a moral issue, so therefore I think it’s right that she get the chance to come and bring this issue to the floor and discuss why it matters to her.”

Wallingford made a “motion to reconsider” Nasheed’s bill in committee today and voted to send it to the floor, giving it a final vote of 5-3.

Nasheed has pressed the “Ban the Box” issue for a few years, and championed the issue in the City of St. Louis alongside Mayor Francis Slay last year. Kansas City and Columbia both have similar measures prohibiting questions on job applications about felony convictions.

Nasheed says that her bill is not designed to open the door for criminal state employees and that nothing in her legislation prevents various state entities from running the background checks already part of the normal practice. Under her bill, applicants can receive a “conditional” job offer that is contingent on appropriate findings in a background check. If the check reveals prior felony convictions that disqualify the applicant, the conditional job offer expires.

Nasheed says that too many individuals with non-violent — and often drug related — felony convictions are unable to improve their lives by seeking better paying jobs.

“In the 14 states that have already banned the box, we haven’t seen any negative consequences,” Nasheed said. “It’s a new issue for Missouri, but it’s not new for the country. So a lot of this is going to be about educating my colleagues on the issue.”

14 states have indeed passed measures similar to Nasheed’s. Republican Governor’s in Nebraska and New Jersey have both signed “Ban the Box” legislation, and in Republican-controlled Georgia, it was the state’s governor Nathan Deal that issued an executive order on the issue.

Nasheed’s bill can now be brought to the floor at the discretion of Majority Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin.