Md. prisons want to sell goods to general public

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Maryland Correctional Enterprises, which employs prison inmates to build and restore furniture and provide other goods and services, wants to be able to sell its wares to the general public.

But Sen. Allan Kittleman, a Howard County Republican, wants to keep the program from taking trade away from private enterprise.

The Senate this week began considering a bill that would remove the ban on selling to the general public by the Jessup-based business, allowing it to expand the number of inmates it can train in useful job skills.

The bill would allow MCE to sell its goods and services to anyone employed by the state, and to any state-aided or state-controlled entity. “They don’t make that much stuff,” said Sen. Brian Frosh, the chairman of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, who introduced the bill on behalf of the corrections department.

MCE provides data entry, mailing and distribution, transportation and moving, computer-assisted design and furniture restoration.

The department estimates that dropping the prohibition would only produce an additional $1 million in revenue, on top of the $47 million it grossed last year from selling to state agencies. “This is absolutely insignificant,” Frosh said.

But Kittleman is concerned that the definition of who could purchase MCE goods includes any institution or person receiving state aid. He has offered an amendment to the bill restricting purchases only to state employees. “My concern is how broadly they can compete,” Kittleman said.

The Senate was scheduled to take up the amendment today.

llazarick@baltimoreexaminer.com

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