This bill pertains to the Study Commission on Interagency Cooperation and Collaboration on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals. It amends Section 3 of Act 2021-478, as previously amended by Act 2022-409, to extend the dissolution date of the study commission and to add additional members to the commission. Specifically, the bill introduces two at-large members appointed by the chair to the commission and extends the reporting deadline to the tenth legislative day of the 2025 Regular Session, at which point the commission will dissolve. The bill also aims to ensure that the commission's membership reflects the state's diversity, including racial, gender, geographic, urban, and rural diversity.
The bill outlines the commission's duties, which include developing a strategic plan to reduce recidivism, identifying and implementing evidence-based policies, promoting partnerships for reentry efforts, expanding access to educational and health care services for reentering individuals, and addressing barriers to successful reentry. Additionally, the bill adds a new duty for the commission to pursue partnerships with employers and business leaders to facilitate job placement and strengthen the state's workforce participation rate. The bill also makes changes to the compensation and expense provisions for commission members, and it has a retroactive effect to the fifth legislative day of the 2024 Regular Session. The act is set to become effective immediately upon its passage.