Committee advances resolution asking agencies to explore inmate work furlough for highway maintenance

The House Committee on Transportation voted to pass SCR 32 on Thursday, advancing a resolution that asks the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Department of Transportation to collaborate on using inmate work furlough programs for state roadway and highway maintenance.

SCR 32, offered as a request rather than a change in statute or appropriation, passed unamended after brief consideration. The Department of Transportation and the State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation registered support; Domi Johnson of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and an individual, Frank Schultz, were listed as registered testifiers in support. Committee members asked no substantive questions during testimony.

The measure does not itself authorize new spending or change statutory authorities; it requests agency collaboration and planning. Committee action recorded the chair and vice chair voting “aye,” and Representatives Evslin, Miyake and Pierrick also voting “aye.” Representatives Cochran, Kitagawa, Chica and Morohoko were recorded as excused. The chair’s recommendation to pass SCR 32 unamended was adopted.

Committee members did not request amendments or additional direction to staff during the meeting. The resolution will move forward to the next stage of the legislative process; the text asks the two agencies to work together on potential use of inmate work furlough placements for road and highway maintenance tasks.

The committee adjourned after the vote and the chair remarked that this was the panel’s last traditional committee hearing before conference, noting that roughly 45 transportation-related measures remain for conference consideration between the Senate and House.