Bill would require minimum wage for MD inmates, who make as little as 17 cents hourly

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Let's file this under 'hell, no!' Minimum wage for making license plates? They get room and board courtesy of the tax payers. They're criminals, not paid workers.

Maryland inmates make as little as $0.17 per hour for voluntary prison employment and training, a stipend that one lawmaker compared to “slave labor” in support of legislation that would require the state to pay more.

Del. Dr. Terri Hill, a Demorat representing Baltimore and Howard counties, wants to raise the stipend for all inmate work volunteers to as close to minimum wage as possible, helping them save money while incarcerated and equipping them to re-enter society without having to rely on their families, or further criminal activity that could again land them behind bars, for financial support.

A similar bill received an unfavorable report by the House Economic Matters Committee in 2019.