The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce placed its support Wednesday behind legislation in the General Assembly designed to expunge some nonviolent felonies.

If the General Assembly passes the bill, Gov. Matt Bevin said he will sign it.

“Take this up with seriousness,” Bevin said Wednesday during a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda at Frankfort, imploring, in particular, state senators who have yet to embrace the idea.

“For these Class D felonies, of the type of which we are speaking, of a nonviolent nature, they should be able to be expunged,” Bevin said. “I will sign that legislation, I will shepherd this to the degree I must and need to. It is time.”

State Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, the Senate minority caucus chairman, said Wednesday that he planned to introduce House Bill 40 in the state Senate.

State Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, said he has supported legislation in the past that would restore voting rights to some felons and at his business, felons have been hired.

“If they do good work, I keep a stack of forms to fill out for them to try to get a pardon from the governor,” Wilson said. Wilson spent a majority of his day Wednesday working with education-related legislation as chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

As to the merits of HB 40, which outlines the House approach to felony expungement, Wilson said he was open to looking at the bill.

The felony expungement legislation wasn’t able to get through the state Senate last session after an 84-vote passage in the state House. Chamber officials said felony expungement will help people still looking for work who have that one nonviolent felony on their record and still have to check the employment application box attesting to that fact.

Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron said the key to the legislation passing is the details in the bill.

“They keep making a bill that is more expansive than they originally state,” said Cohron, legislative director for the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Association. “The devil is in the details. I would hope that they seek input from the prosecutors.”

Cohron said the issue has surfaced in Frankfort for the past decade. Cohron would like to see it packaged with other legislation regarding sentencing requirements.

Dave Adkisson, Kentucky chamber president and chief executive officer, also spoke at the news conference. Joining the chamber at the briefing were representatives from Greater Louisville Inc.-The Metro Chamber of Commerce and Commerce Lexington.

Rebecca Collett of Louisville, who has a Class D felony on her record, said the legislation is the “common sense” thing to do.

Collett said she has transcended circumstances of her drug addiction past and plans to graduate in May from the University of Louisville, specializing in chemical dependency issues. She said she has been drug-free for seven years.

Bevin said it took courage for Collett to stand in the Capitol Rotunda and tell her story.

Ashli Watts, director of public policy for the Kentucky chamber, said after the news conference that HB 40 is the vehicle the private sector wants to see move through the two houses and onto Bevin’s desk.

“It applies to a single, Class D felony,” Watts said. “Five years after a person has paid his or her debt to society, they would be eligible to apply for expungement.”

The Kentucky chamber estimates there are about 94,000 people in Kentucky in that circumstance.

Chamber officials said expungement of felony convictions, once certain conditions are met, enables former offenders to be “more productive citizens, pay taxes and meet family obligations” because the action helps them obtain and maintain employment.

Bevin, in his first executive order, reversed an executive order by his predecessor Steve Beshear that restored voting rights to some felons. Watts said that issue and the felony expungement issue are two separate matters.

Adkisson said the chamber’s decision to shine a light on the House expungement bill represents “a marriage” between the social justice and business communities, noting it is “practical” to take a look at the legislation in light of “workforce pressures in Kentucky” to fill jobs in an expanding economy.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.