While issues like the sex education bill suck all the air out of the room, Democrats are marching on with other bills designed to damage the Colorado economy. Obviously Friday night’s drop of their landmark oil and gas legislation is the biggest blip on the radar, but a host of other destructive measures are slowly marching towards the governor’s desk.
The “ban the box” bill, HB 19-1025, is moving through the committee and amendment process, with its third reading in the House just last week. Amendments were added to carve out smaller businesses, those with ten or fewer employees, for the first two years of the rule. Starting September 2021, all businesses, no matter the size, will have to dance around the question of whether a job applicant is a convict.
Not only does the law prevent the question of criminal history on an initial job application, but it also dictates that employers may not include language in a job posting indication that convicted criminals will not be hired for the position.
If you are having trouble following the twisted logic here you’re not alone. So even though an employer is not willing to hire an ex-con, and he won’t make the offer once her runs a background check that turns up position, he is still not allowed to screen out felons in his initial job applications.
Trying to hire during the economic boom ushered in by the Trump Administration is difficult enough – with the largest labor force participation rate and more people employed than ever before in this country. We don’t need to make it any harder for job creators to do their job. It’s obvious the people voting for this measure have little or no experience actually hiring people in a business.