Congress should seal eligible records that keep Americans out of work

I know what a second chance can make possible. As a teenager, I faced court-ordered consequences, including a fine and community service. My record was ultimately expunged, and I went on to attend college and work for Republican members of Congress. Accountability and an opportunity to move forward both shaped my path. That experience informs a question Congress should be asking: When people have met the law’s requirements and are ready to contribute, why leave unnecessary barriers in their way? Lawmakers who want more people working, more families supporting themselves and better returns on taxpayer investments should pass the bipartisan Clean Slate Act. The legislation would remove barriers created by eligible federal arrest and conviction records, giving more Americans a meaningful opportunity to earn a living. The Clean Slate Initiative’s recent report, “The Economic Losses from Arrest and Conviction Records,” estimates that arrest and conviction records are associated with $440 billion in lost earnings nationwide each year. The research finds persistent employment and earnings disadvantages even among people who were never convicted and those who went more than a decade without further contact with the legal system. Compared with statistically similar peers without them, people with arrest or non-conviction records faced estimated annual earnings losses of $4,400. For people with nonviolent felony convictions, the estimate reached $9,300. Those are substantial sums for a family trying to cover rent, save for emergencies or put a child through college. Lower earnings also mean less spending at local businesses. The $440 billion estimate covers records nationwide, beyond the federal records addressed by the Clean Slate Act, and record sealing alone cannot recover all those earnings. But the findings make the cost of leaving employment barriers unaddressed harder to ignore, and Congress can begin addressing that issue by fixing the federal records system it directly controls. Consider the worker who completes a training program, earns a credential and applies for a job, only to encounter an old record that blocks the opportunity. The worker has done what policymakers asked, and yet, the employer loses access to a potential hire and taxpayers may have helped finance training that never translates into employment. A workforce strategy should address that last obstacle as seriously as it addresses the skills gap. Employers should have access to qualified applicants, and people who have met the law’s requirements should have a meaningful opportunity to compete for work. Public safety is central to second chances. A steady job gives someone a lawful income and responsibilities worth protecting. Helping people build stable lives should be part of how we prevent future crime. Blanket exclusion can undermine that goal, particularly when an old record tells an employer little about a person’s conduct today. Taxpayers have a stake in what happens after a sentence ends. We should expect people returning to their communities to obey the law, find work and take responsibility for their families. The government should make those expectations achievable by removing unnecessary obstacles to employment. When an eligible record continues to block a qualified applicant, it can undercut the very self-sufficiency our policies should encourage. Congress should evaluate record relief with the same practical question it brings to other public safety measures: Does this help create the conditions for people to remain law-abiding? A fair opportunity to earn a living belongs in that calculation. The bipartisan Clean Slate Act, introduced in the House by Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) and in the Senate by Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), offers a practical federal response. It would automate the sealing of qualifying federal non-conviction records and specified drug conviction records, subject to the bill’s requirements. It would also create a petition process for other eligible federal records. For someone never convicted, clearing an eligible arrest record gives practical meaning to the presumption of innocence. The bill sets eligibility limits and preserves access for designated law enforcement and security purposes. Automated sealing applies the standards Congress establishes once the requirements are met. That reduces the paperwork burden on eligible people and allows the government to deliver relief consistently. A person’s ability to navigate an application should not determine whether they receive relief the law already makes available. The bipartisan Fresh Start Act would complement that effort by helping states implement their own qualifying automated record sealing and expungement laws through federal infrastructure grants. Its reporting requirements would help the public assess implementation. Together, these measures would address federal record barriers and support states working to deliver relief under their own laws. My own experience taught me what an opportunity to move forward can make possible. Congress should pass The Clean Slate Act and the Fresh Start Act so more people get those opportunities: putting their skills to work, providing for their families, and building stable futures. Accountability should open a path back to contribution, and our laws should make that path possible. Reginald Darby is federal affairs director at the Clean Slate Initiative and a former congressional staffer. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. 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