ALBANY – Two Republican area state lawmakers are criticizing Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul for signing “clean slate” legislation that will seal criminal records.
Senator Rob Rolison (R, Poughkeepsie) said despite what Democratic supporters say it will provide criminals with a second chance, “it’s much closer to the truth to call it a free pass.”
Assemblyman AJ Beephan (R, East Fishkill) said sealing records of violent criminals eight years after a felony conviction is counter-productive.
“This clean slate legislation includes the sealing of records for gun felonies, kidnappings, assaults, burglaries, robberies, hate crimes, arson, ands that’s to only list a few,” he said. “These are very dangerous crimes and organizations and people across the state deserve to know who is working for their organizations, who lives in their communities.”
But several organizations support the move including Community Alternatives, which says the legislation will expand the workforce, address the state’s labor shortage, and boost New York’s economy.
The group said nationally, excluding individuals with criminal records from the workforce costs the economy as much as $87 billion annually in lost GDP, “a devastating loss with a real human toll on households, individuals, workers, businesses and families.
