BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2077
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
Consultant: Jesse Stout
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 2077 (Davis) - As Introduced: February 23, 2012
SUMMARY : Requires the Employment Development Department (EDD)
to compile a list of employers willing to employ people who have
been incarcerated, and provide the list to the public and the
postrelease community supervision (PRCS) supervising county
agency. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the supervising county agency to give each person who
enters into a PRCS agreement a list of employers in that
county that have expressed a willingness to employ people who
have been incarcerated in a state prison or county jail.
2)Requires EDD to gather information as to specific employers
that are willing to employ people who have been incarcerated
in a state prison or county jail.
3)Requires EDD to make a list of employers that are willing to
employ people who have been incarcerated in a state prison or
county jail and make that list, sorted by county, available to
the public on the department's website and upon request in the
department's offices.
4)Requires EDD to send the list, and updates as necessary, to
the PRCS supervising agency for each county.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes EDD within the Labor and Workforce Development
Agency and assigns job creation activities as one of its
purposes. (Unemployment Insurance Code Section 301.)
2)Authorizes EDD, by regulation, to prescribe the information
required to be reported by employers subject to withholding
tax. (Unemployment and Insurance Code Section 320.5.)
3)Declares that the period immediately following incarceration
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is critical to successful reintegration of the offender into
society and to positive citizenship; and that it is in the
interest of public safety to provide educational counseling
necessary to assist parolees in the transition between
imprisonment and discharge. �Penal Code Section 3000(a)(1).]
4)Requires that a person who has served a prison term, except a
person convicted of certain serious, violent, or sexual
felonies, upon release for up to three years shall be subject
to community supervision provided by a county agency
designated by each county's board of supervisors which is
consistent with evidence-based practices including, but not
limited to, supervision policies, procedures, programs, and
practices demonstrated by scientific research to reduce
recidivism among individuals under postrelease supervision.
(Penal Code Section 3451.)
5)Requires that persons eligible for PRCS shall enter into a
PRCS agreement prior to, and as a condition of, their release
from prison. Persons on parole transferred to PRCS shall
enter into a PRCS agreement as a condition of their release
from prison. A PRCS agreement shall specify the person's
release date and maximum period of PRCS; the name, address,
and telephone number of the county agency responsible for the
person's PRCS; and an advisement that if a person breaks a law
or violates the conditions of release, he or she can be
incarcerated in a county jail regardless of whether or not the
new charges are filed. (Penal Code Section 3452.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "AB 2077 would
require the Employment Development Department (EDD) to gather
information as to the specific employers that would be willing
to employ people who have been incarcerated in state prison or
county jail. This bill would require the EDD to create a list
based on this information by county, and make it available to
the public. This bill also ensures that county supervising
agencies provide this information to inmates upon their
release.
"The current unemployment rate in California is 10.9%, and for
former inmates, this rate is often two and three times that of
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the State-bringing it to depression era levels.
"This bill helps the EDD to live up to its core value of job
creation, by educating former inmates about what employment
opportunities are available to them.
"This bill increases public safety by helping former inmates
avoid reverting back to a life of crime due to lack of
legitimate work opportunities while lifting the financial
burden off of taxpayers to re-incarcerate them for
re-offending.
"AB 2077 is a common sense jobs bill that is good for our
economy, increases public safety, and will save the taxpayers
money."
2)Background : According to information provided by the author's
office, "In light of the ongoing economic recession, and the
10.9% unemployment rate in California according to the
Employment Development Department, it has become increasingly
difficult for Californians to find jobs. This challenge is
even greater for individuals who have had contact with the
law. Unemployment is often two and three times greater among
former inmates-amounting to a Depression-era unemployment
rate. This reality carries with it not only negative economic
implications for the families that are affected, but is also a
public safety issue. The bleak unemployment rates for former
inmates often leads these individuals back into a life of
crime, resulting in a threat to public safety and a further
drain on taxpayers to re-incarcerate them."
3)Postrelease Community Supervision : Under the 2011 Postrelease
Community Supervision Act, offenders released from state
prisons after serving sentences for non-serious, non-violent,
non-sexual crimes are placed on PRCS administered by county
probation departments. PRCS automatically terminates after
one year in the absence of any violations, can be terminated
in six months at the discretion of the supervising agency, and
terminates automatically after three years. PRCS violators
serve 180 days or less in local custody.
4)People who have been Incarcerated Face Difficult Employment
Prospects : As more PRCS inmates enter into the community, the
need for employment opportunities will increase. Research
indicates, however, that incarceration often limits an
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individual's employment opportunities and earnings. An Urban
Institute study titled "Employer Demand For Ex-Offenders:
Recent Evidence from Los Angeles" (Holzer et al., March 2003),
(Employer Study) found that the reduction in employment
opportunities and earnings that often follow an individual's
incarceration is associated with employers' willingness, or
unwillingness, to hire people who have been incarcerated. The
Employer Study found that employers' willingness to hire
ex-offenders is very limited, even relative to other groups of
disadvantaged workers, such as welfare recipients and the
long-term unemployed. The Employer Study also notes that the
employers' willingness to hire formerly incarcerated people
varies with particular establishments and job characteristics.
According to the Employer Study, over 40 percent of employers
would "probably not" or "definitely not" be willing to hire an
applicant with a criminal record. In addition, about 20
percent of employers would "definitely" or "probably" consider
an applicant with a criminal history, while 35 percent of
employers' response would depend on the crime that the
applicant had committed. Reasons for employers' hesitation to
hire formerly incarcerated people include a perception of an
applicant's criminal history as a signal of the applicant's
potential untrustworthiness or concern about the applicant
becoming a problematic employee. Fear of litigation also
contributes to employers' unwillingness to hire them,
especially since many individuals are barred by law from
certain occupations, including those that require contact with
children or jobs that explicitly prohibit the employment of
individuals with felony convictions.
However, a 2003 report titled "Employment Barriers Facing
Ex-Offenders" (Holzer et. al, May 2003), found that employers
in industries with little customer contact, including
manufacturing and construction, were more willing to hire
ex-offenders than others such as the retail trade and service
sector. This report states that employer reluctance is
greatest when the offense in question was violent and least
when the applicant's offense was a non-violent drug offense.
There is no current law that compels EDD to gather information
about specific employers who are willing to employ people who
have been incarcerated in a state prison or county jail. EDD
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has no existing process to survey employers about their
willingness to hire people who have been incarcerated. Most
surveys EDD distributes for labor market information are
federally funded.
In California, research indicates that African Americans and
Latinos are disproportionately represented in the population
of incarcerated adults. As noted in the UC Berkeley Law study
"A Higher Hurdle: Barriers to Employment for Formerly
Incarcerated Women" (Monique Morris, M.S., December 2008),
African Americans have the highest rates of incarceration in
the state while Latinos comprise the largest number of
incarcerated people. According to data from the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), as of
April 4, 2012, the state has 139,038 individuals in prison.
According to CDCR's semi-annual population data, 29.1 percent
of this population is African American while 40.5 percent is
Latino. This rate of incarceration is notable considering
that U.S. Census data indicates that African Americans
represent 6.2 percent of California's population.
5)Arguments in Support : According to the California Catholic
Conference, Inc. , in "light of the ongoing economic recession,
and the 10.9% unemployment rate in California, it has become
increasingly difficult for Californians to find jobs. The
challenge is even greater for individuals who have had contact
with the law. Unemployment is often two to three times
greater among former inmates. This reality carries with it
not only economic implications for the families that are
affected, but is also a public safety issue.
"There is no law which commands EDD to gather information as
to specific employers willing to employ people who have been
incarcerated, but there is however a survey those employers
fill out to solicit candidates for employment and this bill
would require that EDD gather information on employers who are
willing to hire and distribute that information among county
agencies that are responsible for supervising former inmates
on parole. In turn, AB 2077 encourages that the supervising
agency shall give each person who enters into a post-release
community supervision agreement, a list of employers in that
county that have expressed a willingness to employ people who
have been incarcerated."
6)Related Legislation :
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a) AB 1445 (Mitchell) would authorize the officers
responsible for operating certain counties' jails to spend
money from the inmate welfare fund to assist indigent
inmates with the reentry process within 30 days after the
inmate's release from jail. AB 1445 was passed by the
Assembly and referred to the Senate Committee on Rules.
b) SB 1343 (Emmerson) would require a county agency
implementing postrelease supervision to notify all relevant
local law enforcement agencies of the person's residence in
the area and to ensure that local summary criminal history
information is available to all local law enforcement
officers. SB 1343 has been referred to the Senate
Committee on Rules.
c) AB 109, Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011, provides that any
person released from prison on or after July 1, 2011, after
serving a term in prison for certain felonies, shall be
subject to, for a period not exceeding three years,
community supervision provided by a county agency
designated by that county's board of supervisors.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Public Defenders Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Jesse Stout / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744