Some Colorado legislative Democrats believe it’s unfair to make job-seekers disclose their criminal histories on their applications – often, by checking a box – so they’ve introduced legislation to stop the practice.

House Bill 1305, sponsored in the lower chamber by state Democratic Reps. Mike Foote of Lafayette and Jovan Melton of Aurora, would “ban the box” – part of a national movement that spawned the catch phrase. The campaign has steadily gained momentum and is said to have “gone viral” as state and local governments have taken up the cause.

The measure debuts Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee, where it likely will pass. Yet, if the eventual fate of a similar effort last year is any guide – and let’s suppose it is – the authors might as well fold it into a paper plane and toss it out the window in search of a more sympathetic audience.

Though 2016’s House Bill 1388 made it out of the Democratic-controlled House; it died in the Republican Senate’s State Affairs Committee. With the alignment of power unchanged in the General Assembly, well…

…We all know what Einstein said about insanity. That adage about doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different outcome? Something like that. (Assuming Einstein really said that and it wasn’t just some meme attributed to him back in the day.)

Then again, maybe it’s not insanity; maybe it’s just messaging – playing to your base, as they say in the political game. Like Republican Sen. Tim Neville’s “constitutional carry” bill and a host of other ideologically pure, practically unlikely legislation. Scores points with your posse, yet ultimately doomed.

‘Nuff said. Here are the bill’s particulars, as described in its official legislative summary –

The bill applies to employers with 4 or more employees and prohibits those employers from:

An employer may obtain a job applicant’s criminal background report at any point during the hiring process.

An employer is exempt from the restrictions on advertising and initial employment applications when:

Advocates of banning the box contend among other things that asking job applicants up front about their criminal past makes it harder for ex-cons to find gainful employment, increasing the odds they’ll fall back into a life of crime and return to prison.

Not surprisingly, business groups – among them, the influential Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry – oppose HB 1305. The say employers as well as consumers have a right and, arguably, a duty to know about an employee’s criminal history.