POWER Act

Summary

Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and Education Requirement Act or the POWER Act - Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to require federal prison inmates to: (1) work for not less than 50 hours weekly; and (2) engage in job training and educational and life skills preparation study. Requires Federal Prison Industries (a government corporation) to employ inmates in manufacturing activities by subcontracting with private sector contractors. Requires inmate wages earned in a 50-hour work week program to be used for the costs of incarceration, victim restitution, inmate expenses, and related state and local prisoner programs. Repeals certain provisions restricting the funding of, and purchase of products from, Federal Prison Industries and prohibiting a public private competition for work performed by employees of the Bureau of Prisons and Federal Prison Industries. Directs the Attorney General to establish the Foreign Labor Substitute Panel to review pilot projects by U.S. companies for the manufacture of goods by federal convicts that would otherwise be manufactured by foreign labor. Revises federal criminal code provisions to restate the mission, operating objectives, performance standards, and other requirements for Federal Prison Industries. Requires the Comptroller General to provide for annual independent evaluations of the operations of Federal Prison Industries and to report to Congress on such evaluations (currently, the Board of Directors of Federal Prison Industries is required to report to Congress).

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Timeline

1. 6 January 2009

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 6 January 2009

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

• Introduced in Senate · 6 January 2009 · Official file

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 6 January 2009

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 6 January 2009

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 6 January 2009

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV] · R · Sponsor
• · ssju00 · Standing

Related records

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