BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 542
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Date of Hearing: August 8, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 542 (Price) - As Amended: June 27, 2012
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:4-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill expands the use of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation's (CDCR) Inmate Welfare Fund (IWF). Specifically,
this bill:
1)Authorizes the use of the IWF, beyond the current statutory
authorization for inmate educational, recreational and canteen
purposes, to include specified reentry services and
recreational and athletic supplies CDCR is not required to
provide.
2)Specifies the re-entry services for which the fund may be used
include obtaining benefits, obtaining identification cards,
linking inmates to housing services, providing education and
job training, coordinating contact with family members, and
providing information about how to access social services,
legal services and medical services connecting inmates with
outside community health care providers.
3)Requires wardens to meet at least biannually with local and/or
state inmate advocacy groups and inmate representatives to
determine how the IWF would be best used by each prison.
4)Sunsets the expanded IWF effective January 1, 2018.
FISCAL EFFECT
Redirects an unknown amount of the IWF, which totals about $68
million as of July 2012, for additional purposes.
Virtually the entire IWF is funded by the proceeds of inmate
SB 542
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canteen sales, largely a result of family financial support.
Over the past three years, annual IWF revenues have averaged
about $50 million, while annual expenditures have averaged about
$49 million. Over the years this differential created what is
now a reserve of about $19 million, assuming a reserve of about
5% of expenditures.
For 2012-13, only $2.1 million in inmate benefits are projected
to be funded by the IWF. More than 90% of IWF expenditures
involve canteen inventory, personnel services and operating
expenses.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author's office this bill is
intended to provide additional services to inmates "during
incarceration and in preparation for their release into the
community. "In the climate of realignment, the Senator is
concerned about the number of inmates who are released on Post
Release Community Supervision without the life skills that are
necessary for them to successfully navigate their respective
communities and avoid re-offending. SB 542 would specify that
the state IWF be utilized for specific programs, including
education, recreation and re-entry, in order to support the
welfare and benefit of inmates...Utilizing the IWF for
education, recreation and re-entry services ensures that all
inmates are directly benefiting from the monies that their
families invest in the IWF during their incarceration.
Additionally, providing quality programs such as re-entry
programs can help to reduce recidivism among inmates and
provide relief to overburdened county legal and health and
human service systems."
2)Practical Fiscal Concerns .
a) The differential between IWF revenues and expenditures
has averaged about $1.5 million over the past three years,
which would not provide much in the way of ongoing re-entry
services for tens of thousands of inmates.
b) As to the accumulated reserve of about $19 million, this
is not an ongoing funding source that can provide ongoing
services. This committee may wish to consider whether this
reserve should be used for inmate services or for some
other one-time need.
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c) IWF monies are proceeds from the self-supporting prison
canteens. The relatively small profit margin (which
averages less than $300,000 per prison) has historically
been used to fund minor costs associated with inmate
recreation, such as hobby shops. This committee may wish to
consider whether the current IWF allocations should be
expanded in a more limited fashion, for example, to include
such things as athletic supplies - particularly now that
prison gyms are available for use as gyms as a result of
realignment - rather than opening up the entire IWF reserve
for ongoing state and local responsibilities.
This approach would address what has been a relatively
minor structural imbalance between IWF revenues and
expenditures, which amounts to tens of thousands of dollars
per prison, while allowing the Legislature to consider the
best use of the current reserve.
3)Opposition . Legal Services for Prisoners with Children contend
this bill inappropriately uses inmate-generated canteen funds
traditionally used for minor inmate recreational amenities for
fundamental state and local re-entry responsibilities.
"SB 542 is a very slippery slope that could create the
expectation that the provision of these services is the
responsibility of the Inmate Welfare Fund. This would
essentially privatize rehabilitative and re-entry services
with funds that come from the disenfranchised and economically
disadvantaged family members of prisoners. Family members of
the incarcerated send money to their loved ones trust accounts
for the purposes of making canteen purchases, supporting
photographic services, hobby craft and other modest amenities
that make prison life a little less unbearable."
4)This bill was a March 2012 gut-and-amend in the Assembly .
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081