Under California law, those who have been arrested or convicted of misdemeanor and certain felony offenses are eligible to petition the courts to clear their records.

Far too few of them do so.

Less than 20 percent of those eligible for the state’s petition relief currently take advantage of it, and that’s not good enough for San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and state Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. Their new bill, AB1076, would automatically wipe out eligible convictions for eligible arrestees and offenders.

Their idea is to give them a better shot at re-entering regular life — so they’ll be less likely to reoffend.

“There is a great cost to our economy and society when we shut out job-seeking workers looking for a better future,” said Ting, in a statement.

Ting is correct. Screening for criminal convictions is the norm for landlords, employers and colleges. Often, they choose not to extend opportunities to those with criminal records.

That means about 8 million Californians are struggling to secure housing, employment and education — the basics of a successful life. Even fulfilling simple responsibilities — like serving as a chaperone on their children’s field trips — can be out of reach.

These barriers cost ex-offenders dearly: Having paid their debt to society, they learn society doesn’t want them back. That makes them less likely to become productive citizens and more likely to reoffend.

Those barriers also cost the rest of us dearly. According to Californians for Safety and Justice, an Oakland-based criminal justice reform nonprofit, in 2014 the U.S. lost $87 billion’s worth of GDP because of the impact of conviction restrictions on our workforce.

With the repercussions so grim, it’s reasonable to wonder why more eligible arrestees and offenders don’t petition the courts for relief.

The answer is that many of them don’t know they can. Many more don’t have the resources to complete the current, onerous process, which requires them to hire a lawyer and complete complex paperwork.

By automating the clearance process, AB1076 wouldn’t change current policy.

State law has already determined that these arrestees and offenders, who were either never convicted or who served time for nonviolent, nonserious felony offenses and successfully completed their probation, are eligible for record clearance. Sex offenses and convictions that result in a state prison term are not currently eligible, for example, and they still wouldn’t be eligible under AB1076.

AB1076 merely allows more people to take advantage of an opportunity that they’ve earned.

AB1076 wouldn’t change law enforcement’s records, either. Using an algorithm, it will prevent cleared records from being disseminated for housing, employment or education purposes. Criminal justice agencies and law enforcement will still have access to the full content of the records.

As a further safeguard, AB1076 allows prosecutors to file a petition to prohibit automatic conviction relief. This backstop should provide the public with confidence. When it’s in the public’s interest for the criminal histories of individuals to be known, it will be.

But AB1076 also recognizes that it’s not always in the public’s interest to know about an individual’s criminal history. An important principle behind our system of justice is that people who have paid their debt to society should be given a second chance. AB1076 will make that second chance more likely for more people. The state Legislature must take heed.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.