The Tampa City Council approved a proposal that plans to reward businesses that hire ex-offenders. The proposal calls for contractors to “ban the box”, which would remove any job application questions inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history. Businesses looking to contract with the city can earn points for currently having ex-offender employees, having previously hired ex-offenders, or having attempted to hire ex-offenders.
The proposal is part of a movement, beginning in the early 2010s, that requires local governments not to ask job applicants about having a criminal history. Under the proposal, the city hopes to encourage private businesses wanting to contract with Tampa. However, this isn’t the first time an expanded ban-the-box policy has been voted on. While the city already passed a policy for their own hires in 2013, the expansion towards contractor hires was rejected in 2015.
According to the National Employment Law Project, the ban-the-box movement has led to 150 cities and counties adopting the ordinance. Luis Viera, Tampa City Council member and sponsor of the ordinance, also hopes to add funding to the upcoming city budget. He hopes to create a new joint apprentice training program with Hillsborough County in order to give skills training to ex-offenders.
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