STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4349 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HYNDMAN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law and the state finance law, in relation to the Incarcerated Individuals 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 "Incarcer- 2 ated Individuals Responsibility and Fair Wages Act". 3 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 170 of the correction law, as amended by 4 chapter 322 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 5 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an incarcerated indi- 6 vidual may be permitted to leave the institution under guard to volun- 7 tarily perform work for a nonprofit organization. An incarcerated indi- 8 vidual who volunteers to perform work for a nonprofit organization shall 9 be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per hour. The department is 10 authorized to charge the nonprofit organization a reasonable hourly rate 11 for meals and housing of any volunteering prisoners, if applicable. As 12 used in this section, the term "nonprofit organization" means an organ- 13 ization operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational 14 purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of 15 any private shareholder or individual. 16 § 3. Section 171 of the correction law is amended by adding a new 17 subdivision 3 to read as follows: 18 3. An incarcerated individual shall be paid a minimum wage of five 19 dollars per hour for 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 incarcerated individual shall be paid a minimum wage of five 24 dollars per hour for any labor performed. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08790-01-5A. 4349 2 1 § 5. Section 178 of the correction law, as amended by chapter 322 of 2 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 178. Participation in work release and other community activities. 4 Nothing contained in this article shall be construed or applied so as to 5 prohibit private employment of incarcerated individuals in the community 6 under a work release program, or a residential treatment facility 7 program formulated pursuant to any provision of this chapter. An incar- 8 cerated individual participating in a work release program or a residen- 9 tial treatment facility program shall be paid a minimum wage of five 10 dollars per hour. 11 § 6. Section 184 of the correction law is amended by adding a new 12 subdivision 3 to read as follows: 13 3. An incarcerated individual who performs work as it is related to 14 the manufacturing and preparing of any article or material at the direc- 15 tion of the department shall be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per 16 hour. 17 § 7. Section 186 of the correction law is amended by adding a new 18 subdivision 5 to read as follows: 19 5. An incarcerated individual who performs any service or manufactures 20 any article or material shall be paid a minimum wage of five dollars per 21 hour. 22 § 8. Section 187 of the correction law is amended by adding two new 23 subdivisions 5 and 6 to read as follows: 24 5. Any compensation paid to an incarcerated individual under this 25 article shall be in an amount greater than or equal to five dollars an 26 hour for work performed or work for which a wage is paid including, but 27 not limited to, any task assigned to an incarcerated individual for 28 which a wage would have been due except for their status as an incarcer- 29 ated individual. 30 6. Up to forty percent of any hourly compensation paid to an incarcer- 31 ated individual may be deposited into the prison incarcerated individual 32 fund established under section ninety-nine-ss of the state finance law. 33 § 9. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ss to 34 read as follows: 35 § 99-ss. Prison incarcerated individual fund. 1. There is hereby 36 established in the joint custody of the state comptroller and the 37 department of corrections and community supervision a special fund to be 38 known as the "prison incarcerated individual fund". 39 2. The prison incarcerated individual fund shall consist of monetary 40 grants, gifts or bequests received by the state for the purposes of the 41 fund, and all other moneys credited or transferred thereto from any 42 other fund or source. Moneys of such fund shall be expended only for 43 supporting prison incarcerated individuals' families with expenses 44 including, but not limited to, daycare, child support, rent and medical 45 expenses. The amount of moneys a prison incarcerated individual's family 46 receives for such expenses shall be greater than or equal to the amount 47 of money contributed to the fund from such prison incarcerated individ- 48 ual's compensation under subdivision six of section one hundred eighty- 49 seven of the correction law. Nothing in this section shall prevent the 50 state from soliciting and receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the 51 purposes of such fund and depositing them into the fund according to 52 law. 53 3. Moneys in such fund shall be kept separate from and shall not be 54 commingled with any other moneys in the custody of the comptroller or 55 the department of corrections and community supervision. Any moneys of 56 the fund not required for immediate use may, at the discretion of theA. 4349 3 1 comptroller, in consultation with the department of corrections and 2 community supervision, be invested by the comptroller in obligations of 3 the United States or the state, or in obligations the principal and 4 interest on which are guaranteed by the United States or by the state. 5 Any income earned by the investment of such moneys shall be added to and 6 become a part of, and shall be used for the purposes of such fund. 7 § 10. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day 8 after it shall have become a law.