BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1019|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1019
Author: Ammiano (D), et al.
Amended: 8/26/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/11/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/9/13 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State prisons: correctional education and
vocational training
SOURCE : SEIU Local 1000
DIGEST : This bill requires goals for career technical
education (CTE) to be set by the Superintendent of Correctional
Education, and establishes factors that are required to be
considered when establishing a CTE program, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/26/13 add coauthors and make minor
clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires the Secretary of California Department of Corrections
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and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to appoint a Superintendent of
Correctional Education, who shall oversee and administer all
prison education programs.
2.Requires the Superintendent of Correctional Education to set
both short- and long-term goals for inmate literacy and
testing and vocational education programs and to establish
priorities for prison academic and vocational education
programs.
This bill:
1.Amends existing law to add CTE programs to those programs for
which the Superintendent of Correctional Education at CDCR is
required to set both short- and long-term goals for inmate
literacy and testing, and CTE programs, and requires the
Superintendent to establish priorities for academic and CTE
programs.
2.Requires that, consistent with the goals and priorities of
CDCR, a CTE program will consider all of the following
factors:
A. Whether the program aligns with the workforce needs of
high-demand sectors of the state and regional economies.
B. Whether there is an active job market for the skills
being developed where the inmate will likely be released.
C. Whether the program increases the number of inmates who
obtain a marketable and industry or apprenticeship
board-recognized certification, credential, or degree.
D. Whether there are formal or informal networks in the
field that support finding employment upon release from
prison.
E. Whether the program will lead to employment in
occupations with a livable wage.
1.Includes the following uncodified intent language, "Given
that, as of June 2012, 60.8% of state prison inmates have a
medium to high need for academic or career technical programs,
and it has been shown that CTE programs are both effective at
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reducing recidivism and cost effective to the state, it is the
intent of the Legislature in enacting this act that the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall, within its
existing resources, set both short- and long-term goals for
CTE programs."
Background
A 2008 report of the Legislative Analyst's Office stated:
Our analysis indicates that the current set of CDCR
education programs reach only a small segment of the inmate
population who could benefit from them. The CDCR now
enrolls about 54,000 inmates in education programs for a
system with 173,000 inmates, and barely one-half of those -
27,000 inmates - are in the core traditional academic and
vocational training programs (including those operated by
[Prison Industry Authority] PIA) most likely to improve the
educational attainment of inmates and thus their
employability upon their release on parole to the
community. (Legislative Analyst's Office, From Cellblocks
to Classrooms: Reforming Education to Improve Public
Safety [February 2008] p. 11.)
Prior Legislation
SB 1121 (Hancock, Chapter 761, Statutes of 2012), provides that
a credentialed teacher, vice principal, or principal shall
provide input relating to the academic or vocational education
program placement of an inmate, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/13)
SEIU Local 1000 (source)
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Public Defenders Association
Drug Policy Alliance
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
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OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/27/13)
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, existing law
tasks the Superintendent of Correctional Education to only set
goals and priorities for literacy and testing programs. Goals
and priorities are not required in law to be set for CTE
programs, yet they are integral to the new emphasis on
rehabilitation. This bill requires that as the superintendent
sets goals for academic programs, to set goals for CTE programs.
The purpose of this legislation is to recognize that CDCR
emphasize vocational as well as academic education. Career
technical or vocational education has been shown to reduce
recidivism. A study published by the Washington State Institute
for Public Policy on a variety of programs found that one of the
most successful in reducing recidivism was CTE, reducing
recidivism by 9% and resulted in a net savings per participant
of $13,700 annually. Creating goals and priorities for CTE will
allow CDRC and the Legislature to have some basis for evaluating
the success or failure of these CTE programs.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Taxpayers for Improving Public
Safety writes, "?this legislation is both unnecessary and
duplicative of requirements set forth in the 2007 AB900
legislation which required (1) the department to determine and
implement a system of incentives to increase inmate
participation in, and completion of, academic and vocational
education, consistent with the inmate's educational needs, and
(2) the department to develop and implement a plan to obtain
additional rehabilitation and treatment services for prison
inmates and parolees. Since 2007, CDCR has repeatedly set goals
and then, because of legislative budget reductions, repeatedly
lowered those goals. Today, the majority of inmates on parole
cannot meet the 1986 legislative standard of a ninth grade
reading ability because of (1) lack of funding; (2) increased
violence with a concomitant cancellation of academic and
rehabilitation programs; and (3) the inability of an inmate to
remain housed in the facility long enough to complete a program
due to the high rate of transfer of inmates. Until legislation
is introduced which includes an appropriation to provide inmates
(1) with sufficient security to attend and complete a
educational and rehabilitation program and (2) vocational,
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academic and rehabilitation programs to allow a reduction of
recidivism, one more report confirming that more money is needed
to meet goals will do little to solve the problem of inmate
illiteracy upon parole."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/9/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel
Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Torres, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Holden, Logue, Waldron, Vacancy
JG:nl 8/27/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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