Luis Gutierrez: Representing Illinois' Fourth District

Press Release

Reps Gutierrez & Cohen to Announce Bill to Prevent Use of Credit Scores in Hiring Process
Civil and Consumer Rights Groups Join in Support of Bill to Aid Credit-Challenged Americans Seeking Employment

July 28, 2009

(Washington, DC) Tomorrow, U.S. Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, will join Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) in unveiling new legislation to prohibit current and prospective employers from using credit scores as part of the hiring or firing processes.

HR 3149, The Equal Employment for All Act, would give some of our most vulnerable, “credit-challenged” citizens —students, recent college graduates, low-income families, senior citizens and minorities— the opportunity to begin rebuilding their credit history by obtaining a job.  Far too often, employers turn down these applicants because they have erroneously linked credit scores to potential job performance. 

HR 3149 would prohibit the use of consumer credit checks by employers to make adverse employment decisions, unless the job involves national security clearance, FDIC clearance or significant financial responsibility (such as bank managers, loan officers or financial managers).

The legislation is endorsed by 33 Members of Congress and a number of consumer and civil rights groups, including: the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of their low-income clients), Consumer Action, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Unite Here, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Employment Law Project, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Legal Action Center, National H.I.R.E. Network, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, Center for Economic Justice, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the NAACP.

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