BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 608|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 608
Author: DeSaulnier (D), e t al.
Amended: 6/9/11
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/12/11
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price,
Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 5/2/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Emmerson, Runner
SENATE FLOOR : 26-8, 5/9/11
AYES: Alquist, Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Corbett, De
Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans, Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman,
Hernandez, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Simitian, Steinberg, Strickland, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cannella, Dutton, Emmerson, Huff, La Malfa, Runner,
Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Correa, Negrete McLeod, Rubio,
Vargas, Wright
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 8/22/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Prison Industry Authority: sales to nonprofits
SOURCE : K to College
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Prison Industry
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Authority to offer their goods and services for sale to
nonprofit organizations.
Assembly Amendments (1) add provisions that must be met by
a nonprofit organization and (2) add a co-author.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the Prison Industry
Authority (PIA) and states that the purposes of the
authority are to:
Develop and operate industrial, agricultural, and
service enterprises employing prisoners in institutions
under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Corrections, which enterprises may be located either
within those institutions or elsewhere, all as may be
determined by the authority.
Create and maintain working conditions within the
enterprises as much like those which prevail in private
industry as possible, to assure prisoners employed
therein the opportunity to work productively, to earn
funds, and to acquire or improve effective work habits
and occupational skills.
Operate a work program for prisoners which will
ultimately be self-supporting by generating sufficient
funds from the sale of products and services to pay all
the expenses of the program, and one which will provide
goods and services which are or will be used by the
Department of Corrections, thereby reducing the cost of
its operation. (Penal Code Section 2801.)
Existing law authorizes the PIA to operate industrial,
agricultural, and service enterprises which will provide
products and services needed by the state, or any political
subdivision thereof, or by the federal government, or any
department, agency, or corporation thereof, or for any
other public use. Products may be purchased by state
agencies to be offered for sale to inmates of the
department and to any other person under the care of the
state who resides in state-operated institutional
facilities. Fresh meat may be purchased by food service
operations in state-owned facilities and sold for onsite
consumption. (Penal Code Section 2807(a).)
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Existing law further states that all things authorized to
be produced by the PIA shall be purchased by the state, or
any agency thereof, and may be purchased by any county,
city, district, or political subdivision, or any agency
thereof, or by any state agency to offer for sale to
persons residing in state-operated institutions, at the
prices fixed by the PIA. State agencies shall make maximum
utilization of these products, and shall consult with the
staff of the PIA to develop new products and adapt existing
products to meet their needs. (Penal Code Section
2807(b).)
Existing law provides that notwithstanding Section 2807 of
the Penal Code, the Director of the Department of General
Services or his/her designee may procure goods from the
private sector even though the goods may be available from
the PIA, when in his/her discretion, it is cost beneficial
to do so, and if the Director or his/her designee continues
to include the PIA in soliciting quotations for goods.
(Government Code Section 14612.)
This bill provides that all goods and services provided by
PIA could be offered for sale to a nonprofit organization,
provided that all of the following conditions are met:
The nonprofit organization is located in California and
is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Title 26 of the United States Code.
The nonprofit organization has entered into a memorandum
of understanding with a local education agency. As used
in this section, "local education agency" means a school
district, county office of education, state special
school, or charter school.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
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2013-14 Fund
Increased sales to No
new state costs; potential significant
Grant
nonprofits future costs savings due to reduced
incarceration, potential personal
income/sales
tax revenue loss
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/11)
K to College (source)
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Prison Industry Board
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
under current law, only government organizations may
purchase goods or services from PIA. This bill allows
non-profit entities to purchase goods or services purveyed
by the PIA. This change will support the philanthropic
endeavors of California non-profits, who in many cases
cannot afford to pay market prices. It also supports the
rehabilitative and vocational-training efforts of PIA,
which ultimately saves the state money by allowing more
prisoners to earn sentence-reducing work credits. The
sponsor of this bill, K to College, a non-profit based in
the East Bay, provides free school supplies to students
from disadvantaged backgrounds. Historically, K to College
has used volunteers to assemble these school supply
packets. However over time, volunteers were no longer able
to meet the increasing demand for the school supply
packets. In response, in 2009, K to College worked with
Senator DeSaulnier's office to coordinate a program with
PIA workers at Folsom State Prison. The Folsom State
inmates were able to assemble 150,000 school supply
packets, a project too large in scale to be accomplished by
volunteers. In order to make this program and others like
it sustainable, California statute must be amended in order
to explicitly allow non-profits to work with PIA.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 8/22/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
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Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Furutani, Gorell, Grove, Ma, Nielsen,
John A. P�rez
RJG:do 8/23/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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