California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 482. This was the bill put forth by Assembly Member, Tony Mendoza, from the 56th Assembly. The bill was to restrict employers from conducting employment credit reports as part of their background checking program for preemployment screening. If passed, the employment credit report would be a limited background check for those job applicants who were applying for a position where they would be handling financing or other relevant matters.
I have written about this bill, one of several controversial bills in a variety of states where civic groups and sympathetic legislators have proposed or passed bills on the grounds that the employment credit report is biased and prevents otherwise qualified employment candidates from finding jobs. One such article, which provides arguments from various groups on both sides of the issue was entitled, The Law Restricting Employers for Pre-Employment Credit Background Checks.
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill for the following reasons. Here is the text of his veto.
“To the Members of the California State Assembly:
I am returning Assembly Bill 482 without my signature.
This bill would prohibit an employer from using a consumer credit report for employment purposes with certain exceptions.
This bill is similar to legislation I have vetoed for the last two years on the basis that
California’s employers and businesses have inherent needs to obtain information about
applicants for employment and existing law already provides protections for employees
from improper use of credit reports. As with the last two bills, this measure would also
significantly increase the exposure for potential litigation over the use of credit checks.
For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger”
