SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) It is essential that incarcerated Californians and their loved ones are protected from price gouging and excessive cost pressures related to incarceration that negatively impact their financial stability. Research shows that economic stability is critical to preventing recidivism and supporting positive reentry outcomes.
(b) In 2020, an Inmate Welfare Fund (IWF) audit report found that canteen items are marked up an average of 65 percent of the price paid to the vendor, contributing significantly to economic burdens faced by incarcerated
people and their loved ones, who are already saddled with justice-related fees, fines, and debt. Incarcerated people earn eight cents ($0.08) to thirty-seven cents ($0.37) an hour, averaging thirty-six dollars ($36) a month before fees and deductions, but pay similar or, at times, above market rate prices for essential items sold at a canteen.
(c) In 2020, a report by Impact Justice found that 60 percent of formerly incarcerated people surveyed said that they could not afford canteen purchases while incarcerated, while 75 percent of those surveyed reported that their access to adequate food was restricted by their personal or family finances. A research study from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has shown that nearly two in three families with an incarcerated family member are unable to meet their families’ basic needs due to the
costs of incarceration, and that nearly one-half of families are unable to afford conviction-related costs. The financial burdens associated with incarceration tend to fall most heavily on women of color from low-income communities.
(d) Items sold in prison canteen stores are integral to the health and well-being of incarcerated people. Items purchased are primarily essential goods, including food, personal hygiene products, over the counter medication, health products, and stationery to maintain communication with loved ones. Research shows that many incarcerated people rely on canteen purchases for a majority of their caloric intake, and that the quality and quantity of food and personal care items provided by prisons is inadequate to sustain a healthy life. For incarcerated people with chronic medical conditions, the ability to purchase
ointments and medications at a canteen is critical to the management of their health.
(e) Programs and services that are currently funded through the IWF support community safety and well-being, provide rehabilitative programming, education, recreation, family connection, and access to essential items. Thus, these programs and services, including innovative programming grants, victim offender dialogue grants, and the visitor program, generate a broad public benefit and are important investments that must be supported by general fund dollars rather than by the incarcerated population and their families who are disproportionately impoverished and people of color. These programs must be preserved despite changes made to IWF markups or funding decreases due to other circumstances.
(f) There is momentum across the nation to limit markups on canteen and commissary markups in multiple states, including, among others, the States of Nebraska, Nevada, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Additionally, the City and County of San Francisco has eliminated markups on items sold in the commissary at county jails.