#TeamJustice is a group of grassroots volunteer organizers who are committed to doing the work in state legislation to create meaningful changes in our criminal justice system under the equity and justice lens for the Black and Brown communities.

Incarcerated people in state prisons & their families are being subjected to price gouging in prison canteens. All items are marked up ≥65% & many of these items are necessities. The BASIC(s) Act will eliminate unfair markups in prison canteens

#TeamJustice is advocating for you to SUPPORT SB474 in this 2022 legislative cycle.

Bill Summary: The BASIC(s) Act

SB474 will eliminate price markups for inmates and their families on prison commissary items.

Currently, incarcerated people in state prisons & their families are subjected to price gouging in prison canteens. All items are marked up by ≥65% & many of these items are necessities to them.
For example, recent price lists at California State Prison Solano indicate markups on toothpaste from the market rate of $1.38 to the canteen sales price of $4.45, a markup of over 200% that can take up to 37% of an incarcerated person’s monthly income.

The BASIC(s) Act alleviates cost pressures for incarcerated people and their families by eliminating price markups on items purchased in California’s prison canteen stores. This is BASIC! State prisons should not be profiting off essentials especially when incarcerated people are statistically likely to be low-income, Black, and Brown.

Bill Status:

SB474 was passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee and is now in the Appropriations Committee. Appropriations is holding a hearing on 5/18/22. Hundreds of bills will be voted on this week. Please contact the Appropriations Committee so they know you want them to support SB474.

Keep scrolling for contact information and sample scripts!

Take These Actions Today!

Help pass SB474 out of Senate Appropriations! Please scroll for contacts and call script templates:

* You may get an error when you try to 📧 message a Senator outside your district because the system is set up to accept messages only from the constituents within the district. HOWEVER, since these Senators are members of a committee, they must listen to ALL constituents in the State of California, so call them. *

Adjust the template message below to include your information and anything you would like to add about why you support SB474.

Email template:

Greetings,

I am writing to urge you to support SB474 by ensuring it is voted out of the Senate suspense file.

Incarcerated families and their loved ones are already saddled with copious, justice-related fees, fines, and debt, at the same time their economic opportunities are diminished. According to the report “Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families”, nearly 2 in 3 families with an incarcerated family member were unable to meet their family’s basic needs – including food and housing – due to the financial burdens of incarceration. Nearly half of the families surveyed were unable to afford the costs associated with a conviction. See more information here: Who-Pays-FINAL.pdf (ellabakercenter.org)

This would represent a step forward for California’s leadership in combating poverty, racial inequity, and mass incarceration, following on the heels of recent, bold reforms in our state to repeal administrative fees in the criminal system (AB 1869) and eliminate fees for prison phone calls (SB 1008). Investing in financial stability for justice-involved families is a critical and evidence-based strategy for improving reentry outcomes, and is an investment in public safety for all Californians.

I am asking you to SUPPORT SB474.

Call script:

“Hi, my name is __. I’m a California resident, and I am urging the Senator and the rest of the Appropriations Committee Members to support SB474, The BASIC(s) Act, at the upcoming Senate Appropriations Hearing. I don’t think it is a moral thing to rob poor people who are incarcerated. If price gouging is not acceptable in the regular market, it should not be acceptable in the prison system either.”