Bill Text: CT HB05523 | 2010 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Reentry.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-15 - Public Hearing 03/19 [HB05523 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2010-HB05523-Introduced.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 5523 | ||
February Session, 2010 |
LCO No. 2403 | ||
*02403_______JUD* | |||
Referred to Committee on Judiciary |
|||
Introduced by: |
|||
(JUD) |
|||
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) The Commissioner of Revenue Services and the Labor Commissioner shall jointly examine the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit available to private sector businesses that hire individuals who have been convicted of a crime and have a hiring date that is not more than one year after the last date on which such individual was so convicted or released from prison, and determine the manner in which a matching state tax credit may be implemented and offered to employers who qualify for such federal tax credit, and the revenue impact thereof.
(b) The Commissioner of Revenue Services and the Labor Commissioner shall report their findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly on the judiciary in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes not later than January 5, 2011.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) Not later than June first of the year in which the federal decennial census is conducted, the Department of Correction and, with respect to persons confined in facilities of the Whiting Forensic Division of the Connecticut Valley Hospital, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall each submit a report to the Secretary of the State with the following information:
(1) The name of each person confined in a facility of the department, on the date for which the census reports population, who completed a census form, responded to a census inquiry or was included in a report to census officials if the form, response or report indicated that the person resided at the facility on that date;
(2) The age, gender and race of each person included in the report; and
(3) The last address at which the person resided before the person's current confinement.
(b) The Secretary of the State shall request each agency that operates a federal facility in this state that confines persons convicted of a criminal offense to provide the Secretary of the State with a report including the information set forth in subsection (a) of this section for persons convicted of an offense in this state.
(c) For each person included in a report received under subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the Secretary of the State shall determine the geographic units for which population counts are reported in the federal decennial census that contain the last address at which the person resided before the person's confinement according to the report and, if that address is in this state:
(1) Adjust all relevant population counts reported in the census, including populations by age, gender and race, as if the person resided at that address on the date for which the census reports population; and
(2) Eliminate the person from all applicable population counts reported in the federal decennial census for the geographic units that include the facility at which the person was confined on the date for which the census reports population.
(d) In determining the population of a geographic unit for purposes of the distribution of state or federal funds or other benefits, or for purposes of legislative districting, the population count as adjusted in accordance with subsection (c) of this section shall be used.
Sec. 3. Section 31-51i of the general statutes is amended by adding subsection (i) as follows (Effective October 1, 2010):
(NEW) (i) No employer or an employer's agent, representative or designee may require any prospective employee to complete an employment application form that contains any question concerning the criminal history of the applicant or to disclose the existence of any arrest, criminal charge or conviction, the records of which have not been erased, until such time as such employer, agent, representative or designee has determined that the applicant is otherwise qualified for the position and made an offer of employment to the applicant, which offer may be conditioned on the applicant disclosing his or her criminal history and submitting to a state and national criminal history records check conducted in accordance with section 29-17a. Any denial of employment by the state or any of its agencies based upon the applicant's prior conviction of a crime shall be in accordance with the provisions of section 46a-80. For the purposes of this subsection, "employer" means the state, any political subdivision of the state and any person engaged in business who has one or more employees and with whom the state or any political subdivision of the state enters into a contract to provide goods or services to the state or such political subdivision.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
from passage |
New section |
Sec. 2 |
from passage |
New section |
Sec. 3 |
October 1, 2010 |
31-51i |
Statement of Purpose:
To consider establishing a state tax credit for private-sector employers who hire persons recently released from prison, adjust census data to count persons incarcerated in correctional institutions in the population count of the towns where they resided prior to incarceration and prohibit the state, political subdivisions of the state and employers that contract with the state and such political subdivisions from inquiring about a job applicant's criminal record until such time as the applicant has been conditionally offered a position.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]