Bill Text: CA SB474 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Bill 474

Bill Title: Canteens.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 609, Statutes of 2023. [SB474 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB474-Chaptered.html

Senate Bill No. 474

CHAPTER 609

An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 5005 of the Penal Code, relating to prisons.

[ Approved by Governor October 08, 2023. Filed with Secretary of State October 08, 2023. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 474, Becker. Canteens.

Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain canteens at its facilities, as specified. Existing law requires the sale prices of the articles offered for sale to be fixed by the Director of Corrections at the amounts that will, as far as possible, render each canteen self-supporting.

This bill would instead require the department to maintain a canteen at its active facilities, as specified. The bill would, until January 1, 2028, prohibit the sale prices of the articles offered for sale from exceeding a 35% markup above the price of the articles paid to the vendors. The bill would, commencing on January 1, 2028, require the sale amounts of the articles to be offered for sale to be fixed by the secretary at amounts that will render each canteen self-supporting.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Basic Affordable Supplies for Incarcerated Californians Act or BASIC Act.

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.

SEC. 3.

Section 5005 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

5005.

(a) The department shall maintain a canteen at an active prison or institution under its jurisdiction for the sale to incarcerated persons of toilet articles, candy, notions, and other sundries, and shall provide the necessary facilities, equipment, personnel, and merchandise for the canteen. The secretary shall specify what commodities shall be sold in the canteen. The sale prices of the articles offered for sale shall not exceed a 35-percent markup above the amount paid to the vendors.

(b) The department shall undertake to insure against damage or loss of canteen and handicraft materials, supplies, and equipment owned by the Inmate Welfare Fund as provided in Section 5006.

(c) The canteen operations at any prison or institution referred to in this section shall be audited biennially by the Department of Finance, and at the end of each intervening fiscal year, each prison or institution shall prepare a statement of operations. At least one copy of any audit report or statement of operations shall be posted at the canteen and at least one copy shall be available to incarcerated persons at the library of each prison or institution.

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2028, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 4.

Section 5005 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

5005.

(a) The department shall maintain a canteen at an active prison or institution under its jurisdiction for the sale to incarcerated persons of toilet articles, candy, notions, and other sundries, and shall provide the necessary facilities, equipment, personnel, and merchandise for the canteen. The secretary shall specify what commodities shall be sold in the canteen. The sale prices of the articles offered for sale shall be fixed by the secretary at the amounts that will, as far as possible, render each canteen self-supporting.

(b) The department shall undertake to insure against damage or loss of canteen and handicraft materials, supplies, and equipment owned by the Inmate Welfare Fund as provided in Section 5006.

(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.