Center for American Progress

PRESS CALL ADVISORY: Gov. Tom Wolf (D), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and FreedomWorks Join CAP to Discuss Pennsylvania’s First-in-the-Nation “Clean Slate” Legislation as a National Model
Press Advisory

PRESS CALL ADVISORY: Gov. Tom Wolf (D), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and FreedomWorks Join CAP to Discuss Pennsylvania’s First-in-the-Nation “Clean Slate” Legislation as a National Model

Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, June 28, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Center for American Progress President and CEO Neera Tanden, and FreedomWorks Vice President for Legislative Affairs Jason Pye will join a press call to discuss Pennsylvania’s passage of the first-in-the-nation “clean slate” legislation, which Gov. Wolf will sign into law tomorrow. The bipartisan Clean Slate Act will automatically seal minor nonviolent misdemeanor records for Pennsylvanians who have stayed crime-free for 10 years as well as arrest records that never led to conviction without a waiting period. Several states are already following in Pennsylvania’s footsteps, and forthcoming federal “clean slate” legislation championed by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, inspired by the Pennsylvania bill, will enable people with certain minor nonviolent federal records to earn a clean slate through automatic sealing as well. Even a minor criminal record can present lifelong barriers to nearly every  building block of economic security and mobility—including employment, housing, education and training, and more—and can stand in the way of successful re-entry and participation in society. Clean slate automatic sealing will lift families out of poverty, reduce crime and recidivism, conserve taxpayer dollars, and put second chances within reach.

Please email Sally Tucker at [email protected] to RSVP and receive dial-in information.

WHO:
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D)
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress
Jason Pye, Vice President for Legislative Affairs at FreedomWorks

WHEN:
Thursday, June 28, 2018
11:00 a.m. ET

For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Sally Tucker at [email protected] or 202.481.8103.