No more credit checks of Oregon workers!

Items like this are why Oregon continues to place so well on our rankings of freest states (despite Oregon's expansion of the failed War on Drugs).

A new law in Oregon quite rightly prohibits almost all employers from conducting credit checks of workers or prospective workers. This law was much needed, and it was high time legislators lowered the boom.

Under this brand new law, the only time Oregon employers may do a credit check is if they can prove that a check would be substantially related to the job. Bad luck with that!

The states of Hawaii and Washington have reportedly already enacted similar laws. Oregon lawmakers passed this law on almost a perfect party line vote. I think you can guess which party voted against it.

This should be a federal law - not just a state law. In fact, the system of keeping credit scores needs to be banned altogether. That's because the credit score system is a fraternity that shuts out large swaths of the American public from employment, buying homes, and other activities.

(Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/06/new_law_prohibits_credit_check.html)