Washblog

[Quoting] Summary: The Legislature has authorized the Department of Corrections (DOC) to establish and operate a comprehensive work program for inmates. At the next general election, an amendment to the Washington Constitution will be submitted to the voters authorizing the state to let out the labor of inmates in the state by contract, if it is allowed by statute. The constitutional provision requiring the Legislature to provide for the working of inmates for the benefit of the state is amended to include the working of inmates in state-run inmate labor programs. The constitutional amendment requires that inmate labor programs be operated so that they do not unfairly compete with Washington businesses as determined by law.

Under that statute, the wages of Class I industries workers are comparable to wages for similar work in the same geographic area, as determined by the director of the DOC. The DOC must take 5 percent of a Class I worker's income for crime victims' compensation, 10 percent for the inmate's savings account, 20 percent for the cost of the inmate's incarceration, and 20 percent for any legal financial obligations that the inmate owes, including victim restitution.

A constitutional amendment takes a simple majority of voters to pass. [End quote from the Final Bill Report]

I asked esteemed Democratic Activist Alice Woldt what she thought, and she told me her husband visits prisoners at the Monroe prison.  He asked them. After complaining about the sub par wages, they said, on balance, that they would rather have the prison labor program than not.

Based on that, and the overwhelming vote in the legislature (who actually listened to testimony) I recommend you vote for it. Why? It creates assets and pays fines. It gives them something to do. It may add job skills. Yes, it has shortcomings.

Here is another opinion, from Lea Zengage at Justice Works! She supports it.

"Although we understand the value for incarcerated people to earn more than 42 cents or $1.10 / hour and we acknowledge the benefits of providing work experience for incarcerated people, we see the prison industries as one of the main cogs in the "Perpetual Prisoner Machine" as described in the book by the same name authored by Joel Dyer. The bottom line is that in the long run, this change support[s] the continuation of mass incarceration in this country."

I wish I'd been better prepared to explain this measure and have us endorse it at our last 46th District Dems meeting. I notice that the 36th LD Dems did not take a position either.