republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20232024/ab-628.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Prisons: employment of inmates."
description: "The California Constitution prohibits involuntary servitude, but exempts from this provision any servitude that is a punishment for a crime. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to require each able-bodied inmate, including a condemned inmate, to work as prescribed by CDCR regulations. Existing CDCR regulations require each inmate to participate in 8 hours a day of programming, including labor, education, counseling, physical fitness, and other programs, 5 days per week. Under existing CDCR regulations, an inmate who fails to participate as required is subject to a loss of privileges, including the earning of good conduct credit."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 628"
citation: "California AB 628 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Prisons", "employment of inmates"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Wilson"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 33
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2023-02-09"
last_action: "2024-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0e73d1ec-80e0-4ed0-b1f1-8f7654fac910"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628"
source_hash: "cd3b826ca706da30dce2b660c69088cea89a5cb4667d1d18abd9d2e52e5fcd44"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 628 (20232024) — Prisons: employment of inmates.

The California Constitution prohibits involuntary servitude, but exempts from this provision any servitude that is a punishment for a crime. Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to require each able-bodied inmate, including a condemned inmate, to work as prescribed by CDCR regulations. Existing CDCR regulations require each inmate to participate in 8 hours a day of programming, including labor, education, counseling, physical fitness, and other programs, 5 days per week. Under existing CDCR regulations, an inmate who fails to participate as required is subject to a loss of privileges, including the earning of good conduct credit.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/09/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628&version=20230AB62899INT)
2. **06/10/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628&version=20230AB62898AMD)
3. **06/20/24 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628&version=20230AB62897AMD)
4. **07/02/24 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628&version=20230AB62895CHP)
5. **AB628** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628)
6. **06/27/24 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB628&version=20230AB62896ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB628 Wilson By Bradford — **33–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–1** (pass) · upper
- AB 628 WILSON Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **67–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 628 Wilson Consent Calendar Second Day — **74–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Wilson — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-09** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2023-02-10** From printer. May be heard in committee March 12.
- **2023-02-17** Referred to Com. on J., E.D., & E. `referral-committee`
- **2023-04-25** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-05-10** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 10). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-11** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-18** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 1595.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-05-18** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2023-05-31** Referred to Com. on B., P. & E. D. `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-06-26** From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2023-06-27** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-06-29** From Consent Calendar.
- **2023-06-29** Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Roth.
- **2024-06-10** From inactive file.
- **2024-06-10** Ordered to second reading.
- **2024-06-10** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-06-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-06-13** Re-referred to Com. on RLS pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(c). `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-13** Re-referred to Com. on PUB S. `referral-committee`
- **2024-06-20** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB S. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-06-24** Joint Rule 62(a) suspended. (Ayes 30. Noes 6. Page 4666.)
- **2024-06-25** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2024-06-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (June 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-06-26** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2024-06-27** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 33. Noes 2.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2024-06-27** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after June 29 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2024-06-27** Assembly Rule 77 suspended.
- **2024-06-27** Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Page 6083.)
- **2024-06-27** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 67. Noes 0. Page 6088.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-06-27** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2024-07-02** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2024-07-02** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 54, Statutes of 2024. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0e73d1ec-80e0-4ed0-b1f1-8f7654fac910`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).