AB 475: Prisons and jails: employment of inmates.

This bill aims to change the way inmates are treated in California prisons and jails. Currently, inmates are required to work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, but the bill would no longer require this. Instead, it would allow inmates to participate in a voluntary work program, where they can choose to work and earn wages. The wages for these work assignments would be set by local ordinance. The bill would also prohibit the state from requiring incarcerated persons to work, except in certain circumstances. If the commission on state mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, the state would be required to reimburse local agencies and school districts for those costs.