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Licensing Board Reform passes state legislature, signed by governor

Gov. Tom Wolf has signed legislation preventing occupational licensing boards from considering some criminal convictions.

Senate Bill 637, sponsored by Sen. John DiSanto, R-Dauphin/Perry, and Sen. Judith L. Schwank, D-Berks, passed the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously recently. The legislation overhauls Pennsylvania’s occupational licensing laws that legislators say deny qualified residents the right to work because of an old or irrelevant criminal record. The legislation requires the Department of State’s 29 licensing boards and commissions to complete individualized reviews to determine if an applicant’s criminal conviction is a disqualification for licensure.

“My legislation provides much-needed balance, predictability, and transparency to a licensing process that has dissuaded far too many and been a disservice to our entire commonwealth and its skilled workforce needs,” DiSanto said. “More than 1 in 5 jobs require a government job license and SB 637 removes an old or irrelevant criminal record’s lifelong barriers to employment and opportunity.”

More than 30 occupational fields require a government license or registration in Pennsylvania, and DiSanto said in his legislative memorandum that some people are being denied jobs after they are released from prison due to convictions unconnected to the practice of their desired profession — including some circumstances when they are being denied jobs in a field in which they were trained while in prison.

Licensing entities would have to consider whether crimes are directly related to the occupation and weigh rehabilitative factors and whether issuing a license creates a substantial risk to the public. In addition, boards and commissions are prohibited from denying individuals the right to practice on the grounds of vague phrases such as “moral turpitude” and “moral character.”

The bill also provides prospective applicants guidance and the opportunity to petition licensing entities for preliminary decisions on how their criminal history affects their ability to practice before investing precious time and money in professional training and education.

“Finding a job is one of the most important factors in a person’s successful re-entry to their community, to their lives and to their families,” Schwank said. “The way our system worked with automatic disqualifications; the original punishment often carried well beyond the intended sentence. That is not right. This legislation will help them to make that first big step toward employment and the rest of their lives.”

When he signed the legislation, Wolf said he had proposed reforms to job licensing requirements and licensing boards to remove barriers to employment so skilled workers can enter the jobs of their choice. In 2017, the governor signed an executive order requiring a review of job licensing with a comparison to other states and a task force appointed by the governor issued a report in 2018 outlining many proposals to cut red tape and modernize job licensing.

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