While not much is expected to get done in the final days of the 2023 Albany legislative session, one bill that does seem to have life is the Clean Slate Act.

The legislation, which would seal criminal records if passed, could be voted on next week.

What You Need To Know

  • State leaders say they are nearing a final agreement on the Clean Slate Act

  • The Clean Slate Act would seal criminal records after a specified amount of time
  • The legislative session ends next week

“Well, we are definitely working on Clean Slate. We are definitely negotiating,” Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “I think we are pretty close.”

The bill would seal criminal records after a certain amount of time. The goal is to make employment and housing opportunities easier for formerly incarcerated people.

State leaders have been negotiating the last several weeks. The current bill before the legislature would seal criminal records for misdemeanors after three years, and would seal criminal records for felonies and violent offenses after seven years.

The waiting period would start after a person has served their sentence and are no longer on probation of parole.

“We’d like to see the legislature’s bill. But we are not the only partners in this,” Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said. “So, as I said, you’re trying to come up with something the governor, the Assembly and the Senate can all be happy with. I think we are very close. I’m very optimistic we will get something done.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul had included the Clean Slate Act as part of her agenda in 2022. But a deal never materialized.

“I supported Clean Slate even last year. We are just down to the technical changes we are having conversations about,” Hochul said. “So, we don’t have the final version yet, but it is something conceptually that I do support. It addresses a serious shortage of workers that we have here in the state of New York, which is why there is such strong support from the business community for this. And I think we will get this done before the end of session.”

Insiders say they want a three-way agreement among the leaders before moving forward. Both the legislature and the governor want to avoid a bill being passed by both houses and then vetoed by the governor, which is what happened with quite a few bills last year.