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Public hearing on prison work programs: sponsors, incarcerated workers and DOC debate wages and voluntariness
Summary
A public hearing on House Bill 1233 drew testimony from incarcerated workers, advocates and Department of Corrections officials about making correctional industries participation voluntary and raising wages.
The Community Safety Committee on Jan. 23 heard public testimony on House Bill 1233, which would make participation in most correctional industries work programs voluntary, forbid punitive discipline for refusing to work, and set a minimum wage/gratuity of at least $1 per hour for class 2 and class 3 work and a monthly maximum no less than $200 for class 3 payments.
The bill would not affect court-ordered community restitution work (class 5) but would end DOC’s ability to reduce earned early release or other privileges, issue infractions, or take punitive action solely because a person refuses to participate in a correctional industry program.
Carlos Bernardes, incarcerated at Washington Correction Center and a lead organizer for Look to Justice, told the committee that increased wages helped him support his…
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