Title
Amending the City of Saint Paul's 2013 Legislative Agenda to support efforts at the State level to Ban the Box in Applications for Employment in Minnesota.
Body
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul City Council adopted the City of Saint Paul 2013 Legislative Agenda on December 5, 2012; and
WHEREAS, Senate File 361, Senate File 523, House File 690, and House File 498 pertaining to how private employers can use criminal history to screen job applicants for employment in Minnesota were introduced on February 18, 2013 for consideration by the Minnesota State Legislature; and
WHEREAS, the number of Minnesotans that have some type of a criminal record has now reached an estimated one million, or one in four, and Minnesota has the eighth highest percentage in the nation of its citizens incarcerated or currently on some type of supervision; and
WHEREAS, the Minnesota State Legislature, through enactment of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 364, has declared it to be the policy of the state of Minnesota:
to encourage and contribute to the rehabilitation of criminal offenders and to assist them in the resumption of the responsibilities of citizenship. The opportunity to secure employment or to pursue, practice, or engage in a meaningful and profitable trade, occupation, vocation, profession or business is essential to rehabilitation and the resumption of the responsibilities of citizenship,
as stated in Minn. Stat. ยง364.01; and
WHEREAS, according to the Algernon Alston study the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area ranks the highest in the nation in the employment disparity between communities of color and the population at large; and
WHEREAS, the Blue Ribbon Commission to Reduce Racial Employment Disparities in Ramsey County has recommended an expansion of "ban the box" policies to include private employers as a targeted policy change to promote employment equity; and
WHEREAS, if enacted into law these bills would extend to all private employers the same hiring practices enacted in 2006 under executive order of Mayor Christopher B. Coleman and City Council Resolution that are currently used for filling positions with the City of Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, the city of Saint Paul has successfully integrated this policy into its hiring practices for all city positions, including those that deal with children or vulnerable persons, expensive equipment, money, sensitive information or operations, and public safety;
WHEREAS, similar policies are currently in effect for all public employers in the state of Minnesota under Minnesota Statute 364.021 which was amended by passage of HF 1301 passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Tim Pawlenty in 2009;
WHEREAS, employers in the City of Saint Paul will benefit from passage of these bills by opening the initial step of their hiring process to a larger pool of qualified applicants and determining if their past is relevant to their current qualifications as an employee; and
WHEREAS, prospective employees for positions based in the Saint Paul will benefit from adoption of these bills by being evaluated on their skills and qualifications for the job, not just their past. Furthermore, those who have offended will then have greater opportunity to become responsible and tax-paying community members; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, the Saint Paul City Council amends the City's 2013 Legislative Agenda to add the following language under "Education and Workforce Development": support efforts at the state level - specifically Senate File 361, Senate File 523, House File 690, and House File 498 introduced on February 18, 2013 for consideration by the Minnesota State Legislature - to require private employers in the state of Minnesota to remove questions pertaining to criminal and arrest history from initial applications for employment.