California could end forced prison labor. Will lawmakers send this measure to the ballot?

Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, shown in 2022, revived the measure for a ballot proposal that could end forced prison labor. California lawmakers have revived a proposal that could ask voters to ban involuntary servitude in the state Constitution, a measure they rejected two years ago amid concerns over the cost of paying prisoners higher wages for the work they do behind bars. The new version of the proposal would make prison work optional and says the state would not have to pay prisoners minimum wage — but it would not strike language in the Constitution that says “involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime.” Final details are still being negotiated, and advocates hope they can persuade lawmakers to craft a measure that would remove that phrase from the Constitution. Sen. Steven Bradford, a member of the Reparations Task Force, said lawmakers must make further changes to the proposal to define “work.” Otherwise he fears that inmates who are assigned certain communal jobs, such as kitchen or laundry duty, might not be protected by this constitutional change.