Incarcerated individual hand crew members: wages.

Assembly Member Bryan, joined by a bipartisan group of coauthors, proposes establishing hourly wages for incarcerated individuals and youth who serve on firefighting crews during active fire incidents. The legislation would require correctional facilities to pay these crew members $7.25 per hour while they are actively fighting fires, with rates subject to annual updates.

The measure builds upon existing programs that allow inmates to reduce their sentences through firefighting service. Currently, qualified inmates who complete firefighter training or serve on fire crews can earn two days of credit for each day served, rather than the standard one-to-one ratio. The new wage requirement would apply both to adult inmates serving on hand crews and to youth placed at the Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp, where participants receive wildland firefighting training through state-local partnerships.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would implement the wage provisions within current budgetary constraints, as the bill requires no new appropriations. The measure maintains October 1, 2011 as the eligibility date for enhanced sentence credits earned through firefighting service.