Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1372 amends provisions of the Government Code relating to the private sector prison industries program. The bill requires Texas Correctional Industries to annually determine whether there are articles or products needed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) that are not produced by but could be produced by the office at a reduced cost or savings to the department. The bill increases from 2,000 to 5,000 the number of inmates who may participate in the prison industries programs and clarifies that a program does not result in the loss of existing jobs if at the time of initial certification those jobs are performed by workers in a foreign country.

            The bill establishes that the minimum wage for participants in prison industries programs under the supervision of the Texas Youth Commission is the federal minimum wage and authorizes the Private Sector Prison Industries Oversight Authority to establish deductions for those participants that are different from the deductions established for other participants. The bill requires other program participants to be paid the prison industry enhancement certification program wage, computed by the Texas Workforce Commission, rather than the prevailing wage computed by the authority.

            The bill requires the manufacturing and logistics division and the institutional division to work together in supervising the production and sale of inmates' arts and crafts. The bill requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to reimburse TDCJ, rather than the institutional division, for the cost of manufacturing license plates and registration insignia. When manufacturing is started, and after negotiations, TDCJ, the Texas Building and Procurement Commission, and TxDOT are required to set a price for each license plate and insignia.