Common sense measures and bipartisanship are hard to come by in Harrisburg these days. So it’s with great pleasure that we hold up SB 1197 — also known as the Clean State Act — as an example of what our elected officials can achieve if they put their minds to it.

The bill unanimously passed the Senate at the end of June, and now awaits the consideration of legislators in the state House. They shouldn’t waste any time in sending it to the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf, who has said he will sign it into law.

The legislation would automatically seal nonviolent misdemeanor convictions after a person goes 10 years with no other convictions. It would also seal a person’s summary convictions after five years, and charges that did not result in convictions would be sealed within 60 days. Juvenile cases would be sealed after seven years.

Doing these things automatically is a vital revision to a law passed just last year, which allows people to petition a judge to get their records expunged or sealed. That process is cumbersome and usually requires the hiring of an attorney, a ridiculous hurdle to erect before people who have already paid for a mistake and demonstrated their willingness to reform. A decade is more than long enough to be sure they’ve put their life back on track.

Importantly, the bill doesn’t make allowances for violent and sexually-based crimes, and it doesn’t shield the records from police. Again: more common sense legislating in action.

America loves locking people up or slapping them with fines and other supposedly minor punishments that linger as negative influences on their lives for far longer than should be acceptable.

About 3 million Pennsylvanians — nearly 25 percent of the state’s population of 12.8 million — have a criminal record of some kind. Sen. Scott Wagner, a York County Republican who is co-sponsoring the bill, estimates that the Clean Slate Act could help up to 1 million of them.

That’s 1 million more Pennsylvanians who will have a better chance at landing a job, getting admitted to college or a trade school, living in the house or apartment they want, and volunteering at schools, nonprofit organizations and churches in their free time without having to relive (or pay for) an embarrassing mistake from their past.

There’s nothing to dislike about any of that. Our criminal justice system rightly punishes people who break the law. But punishment is a meaningless exercise without the possibility of reform and, ultimately, redemption.