BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 966 Page 1 Date of Hearing: January 23, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 966 (Bonta) - As Amended: January 6, 2014 Policy Committee: Public SafetyVote: 6-1 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop a five-year plan to make condoms available in California prisons, based on CDCR's 2011 study and the preceding pilot program at Solano State Prison. FISCAL EFFECT 1)Minor, likely absorbable costs to develop a plan, considering the existing detailed study. 2)While the plan does not require implementation, based on CDCR's pilot and study, during which more than 800 inmates were provided access to condoms via vending machines, the cost of providing condom access to inmates via vending machines, including condoms, machines, and staff time, would be about $1.50 per inmate the first year, decreasing to about 75 cents per inmate in subsequent years, once dispensers have been purchased and installed. Assuming a fairly regular need to replace damaged dispensers, and a modicum of additional staff time to monitor and report on program progress, if condom access was provided systemwide in one year, first-year costs would be about $200,000, declining somewhat in subsequent years. 3)CDCR's report assumes an annual cost of about $41,000 to treat an HIV-positive inmate in state prison, meaning if a condom access program prevents 10 HIV infections annually, the program would pay for itself and save several hundred thousand dollars. (About 1,200 inmates are HIV-positive, with an AB 966 Page 2 infection rate often estimated at up to 10 times higher than the general population.) COMMENTS 1)Rationale . The author contends a condom access program will save lives, money and families. "Notwithstanding the supposed ban on sexual activity in prison, it is no secret that inmates commonly engage in sexual activity. Some of the activity is consensual; some of it is forcible. But whatever the genesis of the act, the fact is that prisoners with HIV/AIDS are spreading the disease to others in the institution and then to additional partners upon release. This is a vicious cycle of disease that can be immediately improved by introducing condoms in prisons." 2)A similar bill (AB 999, Bonta), requiring a plan but also requiring implementation, was vetoed by Gov. Brown last October: "I am returning Assembly Bill 999 without my signature. This bill would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to develop a plan to expand the availability of condoms to all California prisons. The Department currently allows family visitors to bring condoms for the purpose of the family overnight visitation program. While expansion of the program may be warranted, the Department should evaluate and implement this expansion carefully and within its existing authority." 3)The CDCR study, "Evaluation of a Prisoner Condom Access Pilot Program Conducted in One California State Prison Facility" was released in September 2011 following a year-long condom access pilot project at Solano State Prison. The study was the result of Gov. Schwarzenegger's 2007 veto of AB 1334 (Swanson), which required CDCR to allow distribution of condoms. In his 2007 veto, the Gov. Schwarzenegger stated, "?the provisions of this bill conflict with Penal Code Sections 286 (e) and 288 (e), which make sexual activity in prison unlawful. However, condom distribution in prisons is not an unreasonable public policy and it is consistent with the need to improve our prison healthcare system and overall public health. Local jail systems in both Los Angeles and San Francisco have already implemented condom distribution AB 966 Page 3 programs. Therefore, I am directing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to determine the risk and viability of such a program by identifying one state prison facility for the purpose of allowing non-profit and health agencies to distribute sexual barrier devices." In 2007, CDCR convened a task force and selected Solano State Prison for the pilot project. The Center for Health Justice (CHJ) provided the condom dispensing machines, condoms, and staff and inmate education. Following implementation of an exception to the contraband rule, CHJ made condoms available (free; possession of more than one condom at a time was made a rules violation) from wall-mounted dispensers (chosen based on successful programs in the San Francisco jail and because of minimal staffing requirements) throughout the pilot facility from November 5, 2008 through November 4, 2009. CDCR and DPH evaluated the risk, feasibility, and cost of providing condoms. Staff monitored the number of condoms dispensed and the operability of each dispenser. The task force/report found no evidence that providing condoms posed an increased risk to safety and security or resulted in injuries to staff or inmates and made the following recommendation: "A program to provide CDCR inmates access to condoms should be initiated and incrementally expanded while continuing to monitor the safety and acceptability of the program. Consider conducting similar pilot studies when expanding the program to other prison populations (e.g, with a higher security level or in a mental health treatment housing unit). Prisons should locate dispensers in discreet areas and consider providing condoms confidentially through medical staff or in a medical clinic." 4)Custody Staff and Inmate Concerns. Custody staff questioned how to reconcile the illegality of sex in prison with providing condoms, and the potential for misusing condoms to conceal contraband and to gas guards. Inmates worried about perceptions that condoms condones sex among inmates, that inmates would be judged as gay and therefore negatively judged by family and friends, and the possibility of being written up for rule violations. AB 966 Page 4 According to the task force report, by the end of the pilot, both staff and inmate concerns appeared to diminish, based on input from inmate and custody staff representatives. 5)Current law . a) Prohibits all sex acts, illegal and consensual, between inmates, and makes sodomy and oral copulation in prison an alternate felony/misdemeanor. b) Requires CDCR, contingent on funding, to provide HIV/AIDS health and prevention information to inmates. 6)There is no registered opposition to this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081