BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday shewill introduce a bill that would ban what
she calls the widespread useof personal credit history by employers screening job
applicants.TheMassachusetts Democrat said the practice of seeking credit reports fromprospective employees
unfairly targets women, minorities, seniors,students and others with fewer financial resources to recover
from apersonal setback like an illness, divorce or death in the family."Formillions of working families
a hard personal blow translates into ahard financial blow that will show up for years in a low credit
score,"Warren told reporters.Warren said there’s little evidence of anycorrelation between a poor
credit rating and job performance. She calledthe proposed legislation a matter of fairness, arguing that
wealthierindividuals can afford to suffer a personal loss without it threateningtheir future employment
prospects."If the rich go through a divorce, they don’t see their credit score go down by 150
points," Warren said.Thelegislation will likely meet opposition from business groups andRepublican
lawmakers who typically oppose more government regulationsand restrictions on employers.The bill would amend
the FairCredit Reporting Act to stop employers from requiring or suggesting jobapplicants disclose their
credit history and prohibit employers fromdisqualifying employees based on a poor credit rating.The bill
includes exemptions for positions that require national security clearance.Warrenargued that errors can
occur in credit reports and that bad credit cankeep those individuals out of the workforce
unfairly.Warrenacknowledged the difficulty of passing any legislation in a divided andpartisan Congress and
said she hoped to reach out to Republicans.Warren’sbill is co-sponsored by fellow Democratic Sens. Edward
Markey ofMassachusetts, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, JeanneShaheen of New Hampshire,
Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and SheldonWhitehouse of Rhode Island.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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