The Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce joins California Chamber of Commerce and other organizations to respectfully OPPOSE SB 1345 (Smallwood-Cuevas) as a JOB KILLER. The California Fair Chance Act strikes a careful balance between removing barriers to the workforce for workers with a conviction history and the need to consider that history for certain job positions. SB 1345 would eliminate employers’ ability to run a background check or consider conviction history unless they meet one of the narrow exceptions, even if that conviction history is voluntarily disclosed to them or widely publicized. While we appreciate the intent behind SB 1345, the potential unintended consequences could have a significant impact on employees and customers.

SB 1345’s Unintended Consequences Negatively Impact the Workplace and Customers.

While we agree with the importance of ensuring that applicants with a conviction history are provided with fair access to the job market, the potential unintended consequences of SB 1345 are significant. Outside of showing a “business necessity,” which would be a difficult bar to meet as discussed below, the only other exception is those employers that are required to conduct a background check or consider conviction history by law. That tends to only apply to heavily regulated industries (such as banking or healthcare) or jobs the government has perceived to be sensitive in nature (schools or security guards). But SB 1345’s flaw is that many of the same rationales that served as the impetus for laws directing certain industries to conduct background checks, such as interacting with children or access to consumer financial information, apply to businesses not covered by those laws. For example, youth sports/organizations operated through a park & recreation league or school district qualify for an exception, but private youth sports organizations do not.

Read the full letter of opposition here.