United States 112th Congress Status: Died 1 R cosponsors

S 180 — POWER Act

Last action — Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Track this bill free

No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. Died in session

This bill died with 112th Congress. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there is no live prognosis. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

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).

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read S 180 on the official United States source →

Action History

  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (546)

546 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 546 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety labor education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does S 180 do?
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).
Who sponsors S 180?
S 180 is sponsored by John Ensign (Republican).
What is the current status of S 180?
This bill died with 112th Congress. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track S 180?
Track S 180 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on S 180

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of S 180

Last checked for changes about 12 hours ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →