Campaign Reform Back

BostonWorkersAlliance.org

Posted Friday, August 1, 2008
The CORI reform bill H. #5004 expired last Thursday July 31st upon the conclusion of the 2008 formal legislative season. Despite positive signaling from House leadership, the bill was sent to the Ways and Means Committee and was never reported out for a vote. While the legislature’s failure to enact reforms was disappointing, the CORI bill adopted by the Judiciary Committee represented a major breakthrough for our movement.

Most notably, H. #5004 included our “ban the box” proposal, which would remove the criminal record question from all job applications in the state. Removing the check box would end upfront discrimination against applicants who posses the necessary skills and character for a job. This provision was secured through an unrelenting public pressure campaign, and brought us closer to being the first state in the country to banning the initial question for all employers.

While HB #5004 included sealing reductions (5 and 10 years) and our “ban the box” proposals, the omnibus bill was saddled with regressive criminal justice provisions that ultimately derailed its passage. Specifically, the bill included a plan to make parole supervision mandatory for all prisoners who were sentenced to over 1 year in jail. The expansion of parole would be costly, and would increase the likelihood that prisoners were re-incarcerated due to technical violations, rather than any new offenses.

With only 4 days between the bill’s unveiling and the end of the session, it became clear that HB #5004 would only pass if both chambers accepted the bill without amendments. While the House was geared to pass the bill, the Senate’s more progressive leaders were resistant to accepting the package at face value. In the end, the lack of time, the regressive parole section, and conflict between the two chambers blocked our coalition’s efforts to pass reforms this season.

While legislative efforts are now on hold until January 2009, our grassroots coalition has made undeniable strides towards tangible CORI relief. In the last 3 months since the statewide “Walk to Freedom” from Worcester to Boston, we have met with over 100 legislators and secured a clear majority of supporters in both the House and the Senate. Our coalition and allies have generated thousands of telephone calls and letters that have elevated CORI reform to the forefront of our legislature’s agenda.

In the last two weeks, hundreds of concerned constituents walked the halls of the State House to tell their CORI stories and to plea for reforms in the system. Without a doubt, those suffering from CORI discrimination and their many allies will be back next January with stronger and more militant advocacy. The next 5 months will be used to expand our public buy-in and to dispel the misinformation deployed by the opposition group, Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM).

Representatives Byron Rushing, Frank Smizik, Gloria Fox and Benjamin Swan should be thanked for their leadership in the House on this issue. Governor Patrick should be commended for introducing a CORI bill, but should be moved towards more substantive and vocal leadership next session.

The Boston Workers’ Alliance is grateful to the 80+ organizational endorsers of the CORI reform campaign. We expect to hold a major CORI reform summit in the fall, and hope that you and yours will join us in the next step of our movement. Thank you to our partners - most notably EPOCA, Neighbor to Neighbor and Mass Law Reform Institute - for their dedicated leadership in this modern civil rights struggle. Thank you to MARC, Councilor Turner, AFSC, and the Stanley Jones Clean Slate Project for laying the foundation for this now flourishing coalition.

We fight for a day when our members can work and support their families with dignity, and are judged by the content of their charcter rather than by the mark of a criminal record. Thank you for your diligent pariticpation in our movement for jobs, freedom and fairness. With your continued support, we look forward to moving our coalition to victory in 2009.