S. 180: Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and Education Requirement Act

112th Congress · introduced 2011-01-25 · Crime and Law Enforcement · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2011-01-25 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and Education Requirement Act

Plain 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).

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and Education Requirement Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112s180.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/s>

Record fed-us-cong112-s180 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112