After years of deliberation, the New York State Assembly and Senate finally agreed to pass the Clean Slate Act (S.7551/A.1029C), a law that will automatically clear a person’s conviction record so they can have better access to jobs and housing.
Criminal justice advocates were elated, even though quite a few of the housing measures that New York City leadership crusaded for were left out of the state budget and did not pass during the extra-long legislative session this June.
Criminal justice
Old conviction records disproportionately affect Black and brown residents. According to data from the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), 80% of individuals in the city with conviction records are Black or Latinx, which mirrors statewide trends. New York’s 2017 sealing law did work to conceal a person’s criminal record if they were crime-free for at least 10 years and had fewer than two offenses, but it’s not an automatic process.
CCA member Melinda Agnew said she was sentenced to three years’ probation in October 1999. She completed her sentence without incident, and since then, has become a mom, a grandmother, and a graduate with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. “Yet, 25 years later, despite all that I have done to give back to my community, I am still turned away from jobs, denied promotions, and rejected from housing programs because of my two-decade-old conviction,” said Agnew. “The passage of the Clean Slate Act will be transformative for me and millions of New Yorkers who share my struggle.”
With Clean Slate, old conviction records would be sealed automatically, with exceptions for law enforcement and work with vulnerable populations. The new legislation seals misdemeanor convictions after three years and some felony convictions after eight years, as long as there are no new charges or convictions. Sex and non-drug Class A felonies offenses are not eligible for sealing with Clean Slate.
Many advocates and electeds have said Clean Slate will reduce recidivism, strengthen the state’s workforce and economic resources, and help right racial inequities in the criminal legal system. Similar legislation has been passed in several other states, including Utah, Connecticut, California, and Michigan.
“Clean Slate offers a genuine second chance to individuals who have fully paid their debt to society, enabling them to restart their lives and become positive contributors to their communities,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in a statement.
The legislative session was supposed to wrap on Thursday, June 8, in Albany. Instead, it ended up running a few days over as electeds, such as Assemblymembers Al Taylor, Eddie Gibbs, and bill sponsor Catalina Cruz, passionately argued for Clean Slate. It passed first in the Assembly, much to everyone’s tentative excitement.
According to the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), fewer bills passed in both houses in 2023 compared to last session, mostly because of a steep drop-off in approvals in the Assembly. Clean Slate has passed in one house and not the other in the past.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement, “The Assembly Majority is committed to building a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation over punishment. This bill will not only help us on that mission, but it will provide a solution to the workforce issues many local businesses continue to face. The Clean Slate Act will give millions of New Yorkers a second chance to do the right thing and give back to their community once again.”
Clean Slate was championed in the Senate by sponsor Senator Zellnor Myrie. By Saturday, June 10, it had passed in the Senate, too.
“I’m deeply proud to serve in a legislative body that recognizes the economic, moral, and public safety imperatives for passing Clean Slate,” said Myrie in a statement. “This legislation makes it clear that New Yorkers who have served their sentences and returned to the community owe no other debts before they can rebuild their lives, obtain housing and education, and secure gainful employment.”
Clean Slate would also seal old criminal records from courts and prosecutors during a new criminal case and cops during an investigation; fingerprint-based background checks for jobs unless working with children, the elderly, or vulnerable adults; and a licensing officer processing a gun license application. The law also will not affect or invalidate any active order of protection, require the destruction of DNA submitted to the statewide, or require that DMV records be destroyed or sealed.
Now that the bill has passed, there is massive support for Governor Kathy Hochul to sign it into law quickly. Supporters include District Attorneys Eric Gonzalez (Brooklyn), Darrel Clark (Bronx), Alvin Bragg (Manhattan), and Melinda Katz (Queens), and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
“I applaud the State Legislature’s passage of the Clean Slate Act that can help improve communities, public safety, and our economy,” said Adams in a statement. “This bill can open pathways to success for the more than 2 million New Yorkers with an old conviction record who have been blocked from access to employment, housing, education, and other economic opportunities. With the increased participation in our workforce and society created by this legislation, New York is estimated to take in an additional $7 billion annually in state earnings, boosting our economy and recovery from the pandemic.”
Housing
While Clean Slate is being celebrated as a win, housing advocates are frustrated that the state failed to adequately address the city’s housing shortage, especially as the asylum seeker crisis continues.
A coalition, including president of the NAACP New York State Conference Hazel Dukes and Mayor Eric Adams, had formed to demand housing solutions weeks before the legislative session ended in Albany.
The Legislature said it was able to work toward an agreement on historic rent protections and housing programs, such as the Homeowner Protection Plan, Housing Access Voucher Program, Affordable Housing Rehabilitation Program, conversion of commercial buildings, extension of 421-A, strong labor standards, raising the individual apartment improvement cap, creation of a local affordable housing plan, and good-cause eviction laws.
They were hopeful that their efforts had paid off but, in a joint statement on Thursday, June 8, Stewart-Cousins and Heastie said the housing measures were not included.
“Unfortunately, it was clear that we could not come to an agreement with the governor on this plan,” they said. “It takes all three parties—the Senate, the Assembly, and the governor—to enact legislation into law. There is no debate: New York is experiencing a housing crisis. All three chambers must immediately redouble our efforts and come up with a plan that the governor will sign into law. This plan must prioritize not only the construction of new units of affordable housing but also robust protections for tenants, including good-cause eviction.”
John Sanchez, executive director of the 5 Borough Housing Movement, said legislative leaders completely failed New Yorkers by not prioritizing a housing package as the rental stock dwindles.
“Manhattan lawmakers from wealthier neighborhoods relentlessly tried to slip poison pills into housing policies throughout this entire session,” said Sanchez in a statement. “You saw that in the budget and in the two months since. Rents are skyrocketing in Manhattan, where the outdated FAR cap has blocked the ability to create more affordable units. Black and brown New Yorkers are leaving in droves because it’s become harder and harder for them to live here. Something has to give.”
Sanchez said that the housing crisis does not run on Albany time and legislators should stay in Albany to find an actual solution.
Furthermore, Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) advocates called the only one of the housing bills that passed (S2980c/A6216b) “destructive and unconstitutional.” It would hold current housing providers liable for actions that occurred dating back to 1986, driving away future investment in affordable housing.
“This is a bill written by lawyers to drum up more business for themselves at the expense of both renters and their housing providers,” said CHIP Executive Director Jay Martin. “We have a housing supply crisis and the respective housing chairs are advancing a bill that would drive up scarcity. If renters want to know who is most responsible for high rents in this city, it is the housing chairs in the Senate and Assembly.”
CHIP has even threatened to rigorously challenge the bill in the courts.
As for the other housing measures that didn’t pass, Martin said they are deeply disappointed that lawmakers would end this session without further legislative action to protect tenants, build more housing, and lower housing costs.
Next steps for the governor
Advocates and electeds alike are fiercely urging Hochul to sign Clean Slate into law soon. Most of the bills passed came in the “flurry of late May and early June” and few have been signed. Hochul technically has until the end of the calendar year to sign the bills into laws.
Hochul said in a press conference on Monday that she is satisfied that the version of Clean Slate that passed makes the necessary exceptions for major criminal offenses like murder and rape. She didn’t explicitly indicate whether she would sign the bill.
On the housing front, it is not wholly a surprise that the initiatives didn’t pass during this session, considering that Hochul conceded fighting for her $800,000 housing production and affordability plan in the state budget earlier this year after immense pushback from suburban and Republican lawmakers.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.