1.This Act may be cited as
the Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and
Education Requirement Act
or the POWER Act
.
2.Mandatory work
requirement for Federal inmatesSection 2905 of the Crime Control Act of
1990 (18 U.S.C. 4121 note) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
(b)
(1)Subject to subsection (a), inmates confined in Federal
prisons shall engage in—
(A)work, for not
less than 50 hours weekly;
(B)job training;
and
(C)educational and
life skills preparation study.
(2)Subcontracting
to Federal Government contractorsFederal Prison Industries will
utilize inmates in labor-intensive, light manufacturing activities through
subcontracting with private sector prime contractors.
(3)
(A)Wages may be earned by inmates engaged in the 50-hour
workweek program under paragraph (1), and of those wages—
(i)one-fourth shall
be used to offset the cost of incarceration of the inmate;
(ii)one-fourth shall
be used for victim restitution;
(iii)one-tenth shall
be held in a noninterest bearing account for the individual inmate and shall be
paid upon release of that inmate from prison;
(iv)one-fourth shall
be paid directly to the inmate for mandatory expenses and for daily basic needs
while the inmate is incarcerated, unless such inmate has any outstanding child
support obligations, in which case, such money shall be paid in accordance with
the directives of the court having jurisdiction over the outstanding child
support obligations; and
(v)the remainder
shall be distributed to—
(I)States that the
Attorney General determines have substantially the same prison work
requirements and prison conditions as established for Federal prisons;
and
(II)local
jurisdictions that operate correctional facilities to benefit the dependents of
inmates.
(B)Noneligibility
for releaseIf an inmate is not eligible for release, the amount
held under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall immediately be available for use under
subparagraph
(A)(ii).
.
3.Federal prison
industries reauthorization
(a)Section 637 of division F of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–199; 118 Stat. 3, 384),
section 637 of division H of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005
(Public Law 108–447; 118 Stat. 2809, 3281), section 214 of division B of the
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–161), and section 2410n
of title 10, United States Code, are repealed.
(b)Chapter 307 of title 18, United States
Code, shall remain in full force and effect.
4.Authority to
carry out pilot projects using Federal inmate labor to replace foreign
labor
(a)Foreign labor
substitute pilot projects authorizedSection 1761 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended—
(1)in subsection
(b), by striking This chapter
and inserting This
section
;
(2)in subsection
(c), by striking this chapter
and inserting this
section
;
(3)by redesignating
subsection (d) as subsection (f); and
(4)by adding after
subsection (c) the following new subsections:
(d)This section
shall not apply to goods, wares, or merchandise manufactured, produced, or
mined by convicts or prisoners who are participating in industrial operations
of Federal Prison Industries, including operations in any pilot program or
programs described in section 4130 of this title.
(e)This section
shall not apply to goods, wares, or merchandise manufactured, produced, or
mined by convicts or prisoners who are participating in any pilot project
approved as a foreign labor substitute by the Foreign Labor Substitute Panel
established under section
1762.
.
(b)Foreign labor
substitute panel
(1)Section 1762 of title 18, United States Code, is amended
to read as follows:
1762.Foreign Labor
Substitute Panel
(a)The Attorney General shall establish a
panel to be known as the Foreign Labor Substitute Panel (in this section
referred to as the Panel
).
(b)The Panel shall
be composed of 8 members, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the
Attorney General, and who shall be appointed by the Attorney General as
follows:
(1)1 member who
shall be an officer, employee, or other representative of the Department of
Commerce.
(2)1 member who
shall be an officer, employee, or other representative of the Department of
Labor.
(3)1 member who
shall be an officer, employee, or other representative of the International
Trade Commission.
(4)1 member who
shall be an officer, employee, or other representative of the Small Business
Administration.
(5)2 members, each
of whom shall be an officer, employee, or other representative of the business
community.
(6)2 members, each
of whom shall be an officer, employee, or other representative of organized
labor.
(c)(1)Members of the Panel
shall not receive pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their service on
the Panel.
(2)Each member shall receive travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with
applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United
States Code.
(d)The Panel shall
review proposals for pilot projects submitted to the Panel. For each proposal
reviewed, the Panel shall approve the pilot project as a foreign labor
substitute if, and only if, the Panel determines that the pilot project
specified in the proposal satisfies each of the following requirements:
(1)The pilot project
is to be carried out by 1 or more private United States companies.
(2)The goods, wares,
or merchandise proposed to be manufactured, produced, or mined wholly or in
part by Federal convicts or prisoners under the pilot project would otherwise
be manufactured, produced, or mined by foreign labor.
(e)Any determination
of the Panel under subsection (d) shall be made available to the public upon
request.
.
(2)The item relating to section 1762 in the chapter
analysis for chapter 85 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
1762. Foreign Labor Substitute
Panel.
.
5.Restatement and
improvement of Federal prison industries program
(a)Sections 4121, 4122,
and 4123 of title 18, United States Code, are amended to read as
follows:
4121.Federal
Prison Industries: status, mission, and management
(a)Federal
Prison Industries is a Government corporation. The headquarters of the
corporation is in the District of Columbia.
(b)The
mission of Federal Prison Industries is to carry out industrial operations in
accordance with this chapter using eligible inmate workers.
(c)
(1)Federal Prison Industries shall be administered by a
board of 6 directors, appointed by the President to serve at the will of the
President without compensation.
(2)The
directors shall be representatives of 1 of the following:
(A)Industry.
(B)Labor.
(C)Agriculture.
(D)Retailers and
consumers.
(E)The Secretary of
Defense.
(F)The Attorney
General.
4122.Federal
Prison Industries: operating objectives, standards, and requirements
(a)Federal Prison
Industries shall carry out its industrial operations so as to achieve each of
the following objectives:
(1)To increase
public safety by reducing the rate of recidivism by providing as many inmates
as possible with an opportunity to gain meaningful employment and vocational
skills and improve their chances of becoming productive and law-abiding
citizens after release from prison.
(2)To minimize any
adverse effects of the operations on domestic companies or workers.
(3)To provide
meaningful employment and vocational training for not less than 25 percent of
eligible inmate workers.
(4)To provide inmate
workers with a source of income with which they may facilitate their ability to
contribute to the discharge of their financial obligations.
(5)To generate
sufficient revenue to fund those operations.
(6)To provide
products and services that are market quality and competitively priced.
(b)Federal Prison Industries shall carry out its
industrial operations in compliance with the following standards, as applicable
to correctional industry programs:
(1)Federal
standards.
(2)American
Correctional Association standards.
(3)International
Labor Organization conventions to which the United States is a signatory
party.
(c)Federal
Prison Industries shall carry out its industrial operations only with inmate
workers who participate in those operations voluntarily.
(d)Unless otherwise provided by law, each inmate worker
participating in the industrial operations of Federal Prison Industries shall
be paid at a wage rate prescribed by the Board of Directors of Federal Prison
Industries.
(e)Protection of
certain informationFederal Prison Industries shall carry out its
industrial operations so as to ensure that, in the production of a product or
the performance of a service, inmate workers do not have access to—
(1)personal or
financial information about any citizen of the United States without prior
notice of the access being provided to that citizen, including information
relating to the citizen’s real property, however described, unless that
information is publicly available; or
(2)information that
is classified in the national security or foreign policy interests of the
United States.
(f)At the end of each fiscal year, Federal Prison
Industries shall, if the Board of Directors determines that it is financially
feasible to do so, contribute not less than 20 percent of its net profits for
that fiscal year to provide for the vocational training of inmates without
regard to their industrial or other assignments.
(g)Exemption from
public contracting and procurement lawsFederal Prison Industries
is exempt from all laws and regulations governing public contracting and the
procurement of property or services by an agency of the Federal
Government.
(h)The
sole remedy for injury, death, or loss resulting from negligence in the design
or production of a product, or in the performance of a service, by Federal
Prison Industries shall be as follows:
(1)In the case of a
person suffering an injury, death, or loss in the performance of duties as an
employee of the United States, chapter 81 of title 5, relating to compensation
for work-related injuries.
(2)In all other
cases, chapter 171 of title 28, relating to tort claims.
4123.Federal
Prison Industries: transactions authorized
(a)Sales of
certain commoditiesFederal Prison Industries may carry out a
program to manufacture commodities specified in section 1761(b).
(b)Participation
in foreign labor substitute pilot projectsSubject to the
requirements in subsection (e), Federal Prison Industries may make available
inmate workers for participation in a pilot project approved as a foreign labor
substitute by the Foreign Labor Substitute Panel, as referred to in section
1761(e).
(c)Participation
in BJA pilot projects
(1)Subject to the requirements in subsection (e), Federal
Prison Industries may make available inmate workers for participation in a
pilot project designated by the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
as referred to in section 1761(c).
(2)Each inmate worker participating in a pilot project
specified in paragraph (1) shall be paid at a wage rate that complies with
section 1761(c).
(d)Requirements
for contracts with private companiesIn making available inmate
workers for participation in a pilot project under subsection (c) or (d),
Federal Prison Industries shall comply with the following requirements:
(1)The inmate
workers shall be made available through a contract between Federal Prison
Industries and a private United States company.
(2)The contract
shall—
(A)require that the
labor performed by the inmate workers shall be carried out at a Federal Prison
Industries facility;
(B)include a
provision that prohibits the company from displacing any of that company’s
existing domestic workers as a direct result of the contract with Federal
Prison Industries; and
(C)provide that any
workforce reductions carried out by the company affecting employees performing
work comparable to the work performed pursuant to the contract shall first
apply to inmate workers employed pursuant to the contract.
(e)Goals for
certain businessesFederal Prison Industries shall, in
consultation with the Small Business Administration, establish and strive to
meet or exceed realistic goals for entering into contracts with one or more of
the following:
(1)A business
concern that meets the applicable size standards prescribed pursuant to section
3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)).
(2)A small business
concern owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged
individuals, as that term is defined in section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).
(f)Job
opportunities for blind and severely disabled individualsFederal
Prison Industries shall establish business partnerships with organizations
representing domestic workers who are blind or severely disabled, for the
purpose of entering into contracts with private United States companies that
would create job opportunities both for blind and severely disabled individuals
and for Federal inmates.
(g)Donation of
products and servicesThe Board of Directors may
authorize—
(1)the donation of a
product or service of Federal Prison Industries that is available for sale;
or
(2)the production of
a new product, or the performance of a new service, for donation.
(h)Federal
Prison Industries shall publish and maintain a catalog of all products and
services that it offers for sale to government agencies and not-for-profit
organizations. The catalog shall be periodically revised as products and
services are added or
deleted.
.
(b)Section 1761(c)(1) of such title is amended by striking
non-Federal
.
(c)The chapter analysis for chapter 307 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by striking the items relating to sections 4121,
4122, and 4123 and inserting the following:
Sec. 4121. Federal Prison Industries: status, mission, and
management.
Sec. 4122. Federal Prison Industries: operating objectives,
standards, and requirements.
Sec. 4123. Federal Prison Industries: transactions
authorized.
.
6.Periodic
evaluation and reports
(a)Section 4127 of title 18, United States Code, is amended
to read as follows:
4127.Periodic
evaluation and reports
(a)
(1)The Comptroller General shall provide for an
independent evaluation of the operations of Federal Prison Industries to be
carried out each year. The matters evaluated shall include the
following:
(A)The overall
success of the operations.
(B)The effects that
any reduction in the purchases made under section 4124(a) has on the viability
of Federal Prison Industries.
(C)The extent to
which Federal Prison Industries can successfully contract with private
companies without adversely affecting domestic companies or workers.
(D)The current
status and effects of the pilot program or programs described in section
4130.
(2)The Comptroller General shall ensure that, in the
development of appropriate methodologies for the evaluation under paragraph
(1), the views of the Foreign Labor Substitute Panel, private industry,
organized labor, the Board of Directors of Federal Prison Industries, and the
public are solicited.
(3)Not
later than March 31 of each fiscal year, the Comptroller General shall submit
to Congress a report on the evaluation of the operations of Federal Prison
Industries that was carried out under paragraph (1) for the preceding fiscal
year. The report for a fiscal year shall, at a minimum, include the
following:
(A)The
evaluation.
(B)Any concerns
raised about any adverse effects on domestic companies or workers, together
with any actions taken in regard to the concerns.
(C)The extent to
which Federal Prison Industries maintained at least a 25 percent employment
rate for eligible inmate workers.
(D)The extent to
which Federal Prison Industries conducted its operations on a financially
self-sustaining basis.
(E)Any recommended
legislation to improve the administration of this chapter or the effects of the
administration of this chapter, including any recommended legislation necessary
to authorize remedial actions regarding—
(i)any conduct of
the operations of Federal Prison Industries in a manner that adversely affects
domestic companies or workers (excluding the effects of normal competitive
business practices);
(ii)any failure of
Federal Prison Industries to maintain at least a 25 percent employment rate for
eligible inmate workers; or
(iii)any failure of
Federal Prison Industries to conduct its operations on a financially
self-sustaining basis.
(b)Annual report
by Board of Directors
(1)The Board of Directors of Federal Prison Industries
shall, each year, report under section 9106 of title 31, on the conduct of the
business of Federal Prison Industries and the condition of its funds during the
preceding fiscal year.
(2)In addition to the matters required by section 9106 of
title 31, and such other matters as the Board considers appropriate, each
report for a fiscal year under paragraph (1), shall include the
following:
(A)A statement of
the amount of obligations issued under section 4129(a)(1) of this title during
that fiscal year.
(B)An estimate of
the amount of obligations that will be issued under that section during the
following fiscal year.
(C)An analysis
of—
(i)the total sales
by Federal Prison Industries for each product and service sold to Federal
agencies and to private United States companies;
(ii)the total
purchases by each Federal agency of each product and service; and
(iii)the Federal
Prison Industries share of the total Federal Government purchases by product
and service.
(D)An analysis of
the inmate workforce, including—
(i)the number of
inmates employed;
(ii)the number of
inmates used to produce products or perform services sold to private United
States companies;
(iii)the number and
percentage of employed inmates, categorized by term of incarceration;
and
(iv)the various
hourly wages paid to inmates engaged in the production of the various products
and the performance of services authorized for production and sale to Federal
agencies and to private United States companies.
(E)Information
concerning any employment obtained by former inmates upon release that is
useful in determining whether the employment provided by Federal Prison
Industries during incarceration provided those former inmates with knowledge
and skill in a trade or occupation that enabled them to earn a livelihood upon
release.
(F)Information on
the current status of the pilot program or programs described in section
4130.
(3)The Board of Directors shall make available to the public
each report under this
subsection.
.
(b)The item relating to section 4127 in the chapter
analysis for chapter 307 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:
4127. Periodic evaluation and
reports.
.
7.Rules of
construction and definitions
(a)Chapter 307 of title 18, United States Code, as amended
by section 4, is amended by adding at the end the following:
4131.Construction
of provisionsNothing in this
chapter shall be construed—
(1)to establish an
entitlement of any inmate to—
(A)employment in a
Federal Prison Industries facility; or
(B)any particular
wage, compensation, or benefit on demand;
(2)to establish that
inmates are employees for the purposes of any law or program; or
(3)to establish any
cause of action by or on behalf of any person against the United States or any
officer, employee, or contractor thereof.
4132.In this chapter:
(1)The term
eligible inmate or eligible inmate worker means a
person who—
(A)is committed to
the custody of the Bureau of Prisons pursuant to section 3621 of this
title;
(B)is designated to
a low, medium, or high security facility operated by the Bureau of Prisons;
and
(C)is physically and
mentally able to work.
(2)The term
private United States company means a corporation, partnership,
joint venture, or sole proprietorship with a principal place of business in the
United
States.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 307
of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new items:
Sec. 4131. Construction of provisions.
Sec. 4132.
Definitions.
.
8.Section 436 of title
18, United States Code, is amended by striking Whoever,
and
inserting Except as otherwise provided in this title,
whoever,
.