About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

S. 842, Fair Chance Act 1 (May 26, 2017)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo3531 and id is 1 raw text is: 




                    CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
                               COST ESTIMATE                          May 26, 2017




                                     S.  842
                                Fair  Chance   Act

          As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security
                     and Governmental  Affairs on May 17, 2017


S. 842 would amend federal law to prevent federal employers and contractors from asking
about a job applicant's criminal history until after the applicant has received a conditional
job offer. The bill also would direct the Bureau of Justice Statistics within the Department
of Justice to issue reports to the Congress on the employment of former federal prisoners.

There is no general prohibition against hiring ex-offenders; however, regulations do
prevent their employment in certain positions. Most of the provisions of the bill would
codify a recently promulgated regulation that delays inquiries into the criminal history of
potential employees until later in the hiring process. Thus, CBO estimates that enacting
S. 842 would cost less than $500,000 annually to prepare the required reports; such
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Enacting S. 842 could affect direct spending by some agencies (such as the Tennessee
Valley Authority) because they are authorized to use receipts from the sale of goods, fees,
and other collections to cover their operating costs. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures
apply. Because most of those agencies can make adjustments to the amounts collected as
operating costs change, CBO estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those
agencies would not be significant.

Further, enacting S. 842 could increase the collection of civil and criminal fines from
federal employees who fail to follow federal hiring procedures. Those fines are recorded in
the budget as revenues. Criminal fines are available to be spent without future
appropriation action. Therefore, enacting the legislation could increase federal revenues
and associated direct spending, but CBO estimates that such increases would not be
significant in any year.

CBO  estimates that enacting S. 842 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget
deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most