Despite initial opposition from the Chief State’s Attorney and other state officials, the  Connecticut House of Representatives today approved a bill that would limit the use of criminal background checks on state workers. I’ve discussed the bill in a prior post.  The text of the bill (with an amendment that passed) is attached. 

Specifically, the crux of the bill is as follows:

Except for a position for which any provision of the general statutes specifically disqualifies a person from employment by the state or any of its agencies because of a prior conviction of a crime, no employer, as defined in section 5-270, shall inquire about a prospective employee’s past convictions until such prospective employee has been deemed otherwise qualified for the position.

The CT News Junkie website has feedback from the vote.  The bill now moves on to the state Senate for a vote.