By Denzel Dickens
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Del. Terri Hill, D-Baltimore and Howard is looking to get a bill through the Maryland General Assembly to raise the 17 cents per hour wages of working inmates to a more livable pay of $11 but admitted she will have to wait until the next session.
“Our bill, HB102, would require (Maryland Correctional Enterprises, MCE) to reevaluate the programs they’re providing [for inmates], making sure they are providing valuable job skills concurrent to our times so that inmates can have skills when they are released,” Hill’s assistant Amber Potter told The Baltimore Watchdog.
Hill and fellow Democrat Jessica Feldmark joined in sponsoring the bill, which was first introduced in the legislature on Jan. 13. The bill not only would bring inmate wages to the state’s minimum wage, but it would prohibit the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services from deducting from inmates’ wages the cost of food, lodging or clothing. Also, the Division of Correction can offer job training to all inmates who wish to participate, not just a selected few as in the current system.
With the legislature scheduled to end in a few days, Potter explained that the bill still needs some work, and many details still need to be ironed out.
Statistics show that thousands of prisoners in Maryland work while incarcerated. Last year, about 11,700 inmates were assigned to work positions within the Department of Corrections. Another 1,500 work for the MCE. That was before the coronavirus pandemic. The jobs range from washing clothes, cutting hair, and preparing meals to making license plates, sewing flags, and building dorm furniture.
“The eligibility for inmates to work is determined by MCE, and they have a long list of types of jobs available so inmates who might have come in with certain skills will be eligible through the determination of the MCE,” Potter said.
There are qualifications for inmates to get into the program to work and make minimum wage. There are currently only 1,000 spots open for all inmates in the state of Maryland to work making minimum wage. Inmates must be sentenced to multiple years in prison to be considered to work in the program, state officials said.
State officials estimate that more than $5 million is spent annually on DOC inmate wages and $2.68 million for the MCE inmate payroll. Officials estimate that boosting prison pay to minimum wage would cost the state more than $18 million in 2022; Maryland’s minimum will reach $15 an hour for employers with 15 or more workers by 2025.
The idea of increasing inmates’ wages has met with pushback from critics who question the fairness of the idea. They point to regular, hard-working people making minimum wage while struggling to pay rent, gas, electricity, heat, and air condition, as well as for food. Inmates, they note, will not have these expenses.
“We have a choice to wake up, maintain our homes and go to work every day,” Potter acknowledged. “They don’t have that choice. Their work is still dignified, and they should be paid accordingly.”
Potter explained that even though inmates will make minimum wage, the same as a free person, they will not have access to all their funds because some of it would be reserved to be available to them once they are released from prison or jail. While working behind bars, inmates also would be able to pay child support and meet other financial obligations.
The legislation was designed to help inmates get on their feet after incarceration, she said. Typically, a former inmate must rely heavily on family and friends for funding just to get by until they can find employment, which is also a difficult task. This can be a burden on an inmates’ supporters, she said.
The money former inmates make while in prison will help them be more independent once back in the real world, Potter said.
James Jones is excited about the legislation.
“Working in prison is not easy work at all, especially when you’re only making 17 cents an hour,” said Jones who was incarcerated for nine years on drug distribution and possession charges.
“It can take you all week just to buy things for your personal needs, like toothpaste, a toothbrush or deodorant.” Jones said, explaining that even while working in prison he had to rely on family sending him money to get the things he needs or wanted like an MP3 player. These things cost a fortune for inmates making 17 cents an hour, he said.
Shaun Elmore who served four years in prison for back child support agreed, “It was tough for me.” He said that going to prison changed his perspective on money management.
“I had a real hard time adjusting to how to manage my money,” Elmore said. “I was constantly asking my people for money. It got to a point they couldn’t send anymore and once that stopped happening consistently, I realized that you can blow through things real fast inside.
“Then working made it worse, I couldn’t even make a quarter an hour,” he complained. “That hit me hard.”
Elmore said that once he served his time, he didn’t have a single quarter to his name and being free and broke made him feel even worse.
“Now that I’m out, I appreciate my freedom and ability to get paid what I’m worth for the work I do,” Elmore said.
Potter said the legislation has won support from several organizations, including Out for Justice, a grassroots nonprofit group founded in 2006 in Baltimore by a group of formerly incarcerated individuals who work for policy reform.
Hill, a Harvard and Columbia University trained physician who represents District 12, told the House Judiciary Committee hearing in late January, “This bill attempts to allow Maryland to leave the vestiges of slavery and peonage behind.”