OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state lawmaker who has spent time in prison wants the state to pay incarcerated workers minimum wage for doing their jobs.
State Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, is sponsoring House Bill 1024, called the “Real Labor, Real Wages Act,” to raise the wages to the state minimum of $15.74 per hour, The Seattle Times reported.
Simmons, who served 30 months in prison for low-level drug and theft crimes about a decade ago, said that when she was in prison she was forced to work graveyard shifts for less than 42 cents an hour.
“No one should be coerced into providing their labor, and Washington should not profit from involuntary servitude,” Simmons said in a statement."
Colorado is the only state that pays state minimum wage for incarcerated labor. Similar legislation has been introduced this year in New York and has failed previously in Arizona, California, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas and Virginia.
At least 80% of U.S. prison work is dedicated to maintaining facilities, working in laundry or in the kitchen, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union and the University of Chicago Law school.
People in Washington prisons also do farm work, clear land and do parks and recreation development, the report said. People in prison also labored for private companies, and in one example, assembled furniture for the University of Washington.
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