Letters: New Pa. law breaks down barriers for convicts; Students should consider mail-in voting

New law breaks down barriers for convicts

Pennsylvania’s newly signed SB637 serves as a lifeline to ex-offenders by breaking down previous occupational licensing hurdles. Ex-offender applicants have continuously faced barriers to employment, as their conviction prohibited the opportunity to obtain licensure, regardless of the relevancy to the practice of the professional field.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s signing of SB637 will dramatically improve workforce development and recidivism rates in the Keystone State. Pennsylvania now has a standard review process for convicted applicants, as licensing boards must consider their conviction history to determine their eligibility.

A non-violent conviction shouldn’t impact an applicant’s ability to obtain licensure after serving their time. Formerly incarcerated individuals should have the ability to enter certain licensed occupations as they have experienced incapacitation, retribution, and rehabilitation. With the “good moral character” clause, ex-offenders were not afforded the opportunity to transition back into society. Rather, the clause deprives former convicts from employment freedom and practically serves as a way to make them continually pay their debt to society for past transgressions.

States with overly restrictive licensure laws are erecting barriers to economic stability. Wolf has made it easier for convicted Pennsylvanians to release and let go of their sentencing to renew their lives and get back to work.

Bayne is a legislative research analyst and Schumacher is marketing and outreach coordinator at the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at St. Francis University.

Mail-in voting can help students

There is no time of the year quite like back to school. Coming to college, it was exciting to see return to campus hang out with friends, search for the building my classes would be in, and shop for new apartment decor. Yet, how students will live, learn and vote on campus and off campus will look very different than a typical fall semester.

With no uniform response from the federal government of safety procedures, it can make moving back to campus stressful for students. With Penn State shifting more in-person classes to an online format, it is important to have a game plan in place for voting long before election day on Nov. 3.

Students should register to vote where they will be living. If you will be in State College for the semester, register to vote at your apartment or residence hall address. If you will be elsewhere, such as your family’s home, register there. In both cases, you can apply for a mail-in ballot and send it to the board of elections for the county in which you are registered.

Voting by mail helps to close the turnout gap between younger and older voters. It removes the traditional barriers that prevent young people from participating in elections, like not having time to go vote or lack of transportation to polling locations. In an uncertain year, we know that young people have the most at stake and the largest opportunity to make our voices heard and create monumental change.

Township boundaries should be clearer

Now that additional Centre County townships have adopted COVID-related rules with fines for violations, I would strongly urge these townships to follow up with detailed signage and boundary designations.

The Centre County region has many visitors and with this scattering of townships adopting various COVID rules and regulations it is incumbent on these townships to have clearly designated boundary lines that encircle each township and specific posted rules with clearly noted fines. Perhaps it would be easier to simply encircle Centre County with clearly designated physical boundaries on all incoming access roads.

The county could even create tolls for each access road thus raising funds for the lost tax revenues due to the cancellation of the BIG Ten fall sports activities. The recent letter by the Big Ten commissioner does not provide any detailed or specific relevant data to support their decision. In addition to medical data, it would also be appropriate to provide a financial impact analysis for each school.