Drive for Inmate Labor Initiative Stepped Up
Gov. George Deukmejian, facing a June 28 deadline to qualify his proposed inmate labor initiative for the November ballot, announced Monday that a stepped-up signature gathering campaign will begin next week.
The proposed initiative, which is about 200,000 voter signatures short of the required 655,000, seeks to repeal the state constitutional prohibition on use of prison inmates by private employers. The program would put inmates to work to help pay for their incarceration.
At a press conference in Los Angeles, the governor was presented with a $25,000 check for the campaign by Donald L. Novey, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. “We think inmates should make restitution for their crimes,” Novey said.
The measure would allow the state to contract with companies to set up small production facilities inside prisons. Inmate salaries would be subjected to deductions for their upkeep, taxes, victim restitution and personal savings.
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