Sponsors (2)
The bill tightens hiring and contracting rules and clarifies criminal definitions to improve perceived safety and procurement transparency, but does so by imposing immediate job and contract losses, expanding collateral consequences, and creating disproportionate and administrative burdens on people with past convictions and the communities that employ them.
District residents, government employees, and users of government services may face lower safety risk because the District will bar hiring and contracting with people finally convicted of violent or dangerous crimes, potentially reducing workplace and service-related safety incidents.
Courts, prosecutors, and law enforcement benefit from clearer, uniform statutory definitions of 'crime of violence' and 'dangerous crime' and a finality standard for convictions, reducing ambiguity in charging, eligibility, and collateral-consequence determinations.
Taxpayers and local governments may get greater procurement transparency and oversight because vendors must certify they are not covered vendors before receiving District contracts.
People with past convictions who hold District jobs will face immediate job loss, causing sudden unemployment and financial strain for those employees and their families.
Blanket hiring and contracting bans will reduce reentry opportunities and disproportionately harm racial and other groups with higher conviction rates, worsening inequality and long-term economic mobility.
Businesses that employ or are partly owned by people with past convictions could lose District contracts and revenue, shrinking the pool of eligible vendors, causing downstream job losses for innocent employees, and raising costs for taxpayers due to reduced competition.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 14, 2026 by Nancy Mace · Last progress January 14, 2026
Prohibits the District of Columbia government from hiring or contracting with people or vendors who have a final conviction for a "crime of violence" or a "dangerous crime." New hires and new contracts after enactment must include a certification that the person or vendor is not covered; existing District employees and existing contracts with covered parties must be terminated within 90 days of enactment. The bill defines the key terms and treats convictions under federal, state, or local law that are substantially similar to D.C. offenses as qualifying convictions.