Inmates could get raise under new plan

For the first time in 30 years, the California prison system plans to nearly double most hourly wages for incarcerated workers, a proposal that comes amid a broader debate over prison labor and a push by progressive activists to prohibit forced labor as a form of criminal punishment.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's proposal calls for eliminating all unpaid work assignments and reducing hours for most prison workers from full-time jobs to half time. Prison officials argue that higher wages will have several benefits, including making it easier for inmates to pay back the money they owe for damage from their crimes. Fifty-five percent of inmates' wages go toward restitution costs, according to the Department of Corrections.

“Increased pay will provide a stronger incentive for incarcerated people to accept and retain jobs,” department spokesperson Tessa Outhyse said in an email. “New wages will also help workers meet restitution payments for crime victims and save more money in preparation for release.”

Approximately 40% of California's 96,000 prisoners have jobs while they serve out their sentences, according to the department spokesperson, doing laundry and janitorial work, as well as clerking and construction. Their wages generally range from 8 cents an hour to 37 cents an hour, depending on the skill level required for the job. The proposal calls for doubling the wage range, from 16 cents an hour to 74 cents an hour.

Although prison reform advocates have long argued that wages for incarcerated workers are insufficient, some are dubious about the proposed pay increase. They say the changes will only boost hourly wages by a few nickels and dimes, and the overall daily pay by just a few dollars.

“We are not asking for a liveable wage, we are asking for a respectable wage,” said state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena.

“It has made it increasingly difficult for incarcerated people just to provide for their basic needs in prison, be it deodorant or toothpaste, to help pay down their restitution that is owed to victims, helping their families or even staying in contact with their families using the phone.”

Bradford is a member of California's Reparations Task Force, which recommended paying fair market value for prison labor and eliminating forced labor as a criminal punishment from the state Constitution. Lawmakers considered a measure this year known as the “End Slavery in California Act” that would eliminate a provision in the state Constitution that allows for involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. It passed the Assembly in September and may be heard in the Senate next year. If passed by twothirds of the Senate, the change would then have to be approved by voters.

Prison officials did not respond to questions about whether the proposal to increase wages is related to the discussion about removing involuntary servitude from the constitution. But their concerns helped kill an earlier effort to pass a constitutional ban on involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime. In 2022, the Corrections Department told lawmakers that it would cost billions of dollars to pay prisoners minimum wage.

The cost to taxpayers was one reason state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, voted against the measure last year.

“I was concerned about eliminating the word `slavery' in the constitution without any detail on how it would be implemented in our prisons and would take power from legislatures to courts,” Glazer said in an interview.

He said he supports raising wages for prison workers. “But at the heart of it, it's a budget priority choice issue,” Glazer said.

Budget projections show California is likely to face a shortfall of at least several billion dollars each of the next three years. The Corrections Department's current plan to raise wages would not require additional funding from the state budget, spokesperson Outhyse said, because hours would be reduced while wages are increased. She said the budget allocates approximately $10 million a year for incarcerated wages and the proposed regulations “will maximize utilization of that fund.”