COLLEGE PARK, Md. 鈥撯�� Maryland inmates make as little as $0.17 per hour for voluntary prison employment and training, a stipend that one lawmaker compared to 鈥渟lave labor鈥� in support of legislation that would require the state to pay more.
Del. Terri Hill, D鈥擝altimore and Howard, wants to raise the stipend for all inmate work volunteers to as close to minimum wage as possible, helping them save money while incarcerated and equipping them to re-enter society without having to rely on their families 鈥撯�� or further criminal activity that could again land them behind bars 鈥撯�� for financial support.
鈥淭his bill attempts to allow Maryland to leave the vestiges of slavery and peonage behind,鈥� Hill said in an online House Judiciary Committee hearing Jan. 26 that Capital 小萝莉影视 Service viewed.
Sen. Joanne Benson, D鈥揚rince George鈥檚, presented the bill, SB0194, to the Senate Finance committee Thursday afternoon.
In 2020, inmates that Maryland Correctional Enterprises employed at a prison or at a warehouse location didn鈥檛 make more than $1.16 hourly, absent a $0.01 raise or longevity pay, though inmates trusted to leave their prison complex for work release made minimum wage, according to the program鈥檚 .
In prison, inmates must purchase stamps, toiletries and phone minutes by their own means, Kimberly Haven, who worked for Maryland Correctional Enterprises during her own incarceration, said in her Jan. 26 testimony in support of raising inmate wages.
If inmates cannot rely on their wages to purchase these items, they may turn to outside support from family or to 鈥渟ide hustles,鈥� which Haven explained are like a barter system of items like cigarettes that 鈥渋nevitably鈥� result in criminal activity within correctional facilities.
Haven said that during her incarceration, inmates had to choose from a handful of rehabilitative programs, including school, working the prison grounds and working for Maryland Correctional Enterprises 鈥撯�� the most widely favored.
鈥淭here is no just 鈥榩ressing your bunk鈥� and doing your time,鈥� Haven said.
Boosting prison pay to the prevailing Maryland minimum wage 鈥撯�� which by 2025 will reach $15 per hour for employers with 15 or more workers 鈥撯�� would cost the state more than $18 million in 2022.
Chief Administrative Officer Mark Rowley said in his Jan. 26 testimony that the added expenditure would bankrupt Maryland Correctional Enterprises, which pays for materials inmates use, employs civilians who work in the program and covers other manufacturing expenses.
He told Capital 小萝莉影视 Service that Maryland Correctional Enterprises has been 鈥渕ischaracterized as an employer,鈥� adding that the program鈥檚 focus has been on outcome, or rehabilitation, not income.
Inmates who volunteer work four- to five-day weeks in furniture restoration, printing, textiles, meat production, laundry services or making license plates, according to the program鈥檚 annual report, with products going to various state institutions, including the University System of Maryland鈥檚 campuses.
Inmates are entitled to four months off their sentence for each year they work for Maryland Correctional Enterprises, Rowley said.
The program pays the prevailing wage to a handful of inmates working in Prison Industry Enhancement, or PIE, through which the program contracts to private industries.
Of the 821 inmates Maryland Correctional Enterprises employed across 10 state facilities in 2020 鈥撯�� a pandemic-induced decline from 1,516 in 2019, according to the program鈥檚 annual report 鈥撯�� just eight worked in the PIE program.
In 2020, the PIE program generated a total of at least $29,823, nearly 30% of which went toward the inmates鈥� room and board, according to the report.
Hill鈥檚 bill, HB0102, would prohibit the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services from deducting room and board costs from all inmates鈥� wages, but it would still require inmates to pay court expenses, child support, restitution and any other crime- or family-related costs before being able to save.
Stephen Sanders, chief executive officer for Maryland Correctional Enterprises, said in his testimony at the Jan. 26 Judiciary Committee hearing that his organization believes 鈥渃urrent rates of pay are appropriate and allow MCE to remain effective and efficient.鈥�
