Bill Text: NY A10490 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to the Inmates Responsibility and Fair Wages Act; establishes a minimum wage for inmates of five dollars per hour; establishes a prison inmate fund where up to forty percent of an inmates wages can be sent to his or her family to help pay for certain expenses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-22 - referred to correction [A10490 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A10490-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10490 IN ASSEMBLY May 22, 2020 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Hyndman) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law and the state finance law, in relation to the Inmates Responsibility and Fair Wages Act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Inmates 2 Responsibility and Fair Wages Act". 3 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 170 of the correction law, as added by 4 chapter 256 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows: 5 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an inmate may be 6 permitted to leave the institution under guard to voluntarily perform 7 work for a nonprofit organization. An inmate who volunteers to perform 8 work for a nonprofit organization shall be paid a minimum wage of five 9 dollars per hour. The department is authorized to charge the nonprofit 10 organization a reasonable hourly rate for meals and housing of any 11 volunteering prisoners, if applicable. As used in this section, the term 12 "nonprofit organization" means an organization operated exclusively for 13 religious, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the net earn- 14 ings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or indi- 15 vidual. 16 § 3. Section 171 of the correction law is amended by adding a new 17 subdivision 3 to read as follows: 18 3. An inmate shall be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per hour for 19 any labor performed. 20 § 4. Subdivision 7 of section 177 of the correction law, as renumbered 21 by chapter 256 of the laws of 2010, is renumbered subdivision 8 and a 22 new subdivision 7 is added to read as follows: 23 7. An inmate shall be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per hour for 24 any labor performed. 25 § 5. Section 178 of the correction law, as added by chapter 476 of the 26 laws of 1970, is amended to read as follows: 27 § 178. Participation in work release and other community activities. 28 Nothing contained in this article shall be construed or applied so as to EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16434-01-0A. 10490 2 1 prohibit private employment of inmates in the community under a work 2 release program, or a residential treatment facility program formulated 3 pursuant to any provision of this chapter. An inmate participating in a 4 work release program or a residential treatment facility program shall 5 be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per hour. 6 § 6. Section 184 of the correction law is amended by adding a new 7 subdivision 3 to read as follows: 8 3. An inmate who performs work as it is related to the manufacturing 9 and preparing of any article or material at the direction of the depart- 10 ment shall be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per hour. 11 § 7. Section 186 of the correction law is amended by adding a new 12 subdivision 5 to read as follows: 13 5. An inmate who performs any service or manufactures any article or 14 material shall be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per hour. 15 § 8. Section 187 of the correction law is amended by adding two new 16 subdivisions 5 and 6 to read as follows: 17 5. Any compensation paid to an inmate under this article shall be in 18 an amount greater than or equal to five dollars an hour for work 19 performed or work for which a wage is paid including, but not limited 20 to, any task assigned to an inmate for which a wage would have been due 21 except for his or her status as an inmate. 22 6. Up to forty percent of any hourly compensation paid to an inmate 23 may be deposited into the prison inmate fund established under section 24 ninety-nine-ii of the state finance law. 25 § 9. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ii to 26 read as follows: 27 § 99-ii. Prison inmate fund. 1. There is hereby established in the 28 joint custody of the state comptroller and the department of corrections 29 and community supervision a special fund to be known as the "prison 30 inmate fund". 31 2. The prison inmate fund shall consist of monetary grants, gifts or 32 bequests received by the state for the purposes of the fund, and all 33 other moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or 34 source. Moneys of such fund shall be expended only for supporting prison 35 inmates' families with expenses including, but not limited to, daycare, 36 child support, rent and medical expenses. The amount of moneys a prison 37 inmate's family receives for such expenses shall be greater than or 38 equal to the amount of money contributed to the fund from such prison 39 inmate's compensation under subdivision six of section one hundred 40 eighty-seven of the correction law. Nothing in this section shall 41 prevent the state from soliciting and receiving grants, gifts or 42 bequests for the purposes of such fund and depositing them into the fund 43 according to law. 44 3. Moneys in such fund shall be kept separate from and shall not be 45 commingled with any other moneys in the custody of the comptroller or 46 the department of corrections and community supervision. Any moneys of 47 the fund not required for immediate use may, at the discretion of the 48 comptroller, in consultation with the department of corrections and 49 community supervision, be invested by the comptroller in obligations of 50 the United States or the state, or in obligations the principal and 51 interest on which are guaranteed by the United States or by the state. 52 Any income earned by the investment of such moneys shall be added to and 53 become a part of, and shall be used for the purposes of such fund. 54 § 10. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day 55 after it shall have become a law.
