RICHMOND, VA–May 13, 2024– Today the Virginia Legislature passed the biennial state budget with strong bipartisan support. The new state budget removes the language that limited eligibility for Earned Sentence Credits. Removing this language will expand positive incentives for rehabilitation to thousands of incarcerated Virginians and undo the harm caused by its eleventh-hour inclusion in the previous budget. 

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In 2021, the Virginia Legislature passed, HB5148 (sponsored by Del. Don Scott) which expanded the Earned Sentence Credit (ESC) program for incarcerated people in Virginia. Incarcerated people who were eligible for enhanced ESCs earned additional time off of their sentence for successfully completing educational and rehabilitation programming and obeying facility rules. The expansion went into effect in July 2022 and was highly impactful, contributing to Virginia leading the nation in decarceration. 

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However, just before the expansion went into effect in July 2022, language limiting eligibility for the ESC program was inserted into the budget at the request of Governor Glenn Youngkin.  The last-minute change caused substantial harm. Despite approved release plans and successful completion of reentry and rehabilitative programming, many people lost their eligibility to earn credits. The language excluded 8,000 incarcerated people from eligibility and immediately impacted over 500 people who were scheduled to be released in the first 60 days of the program. 

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The language limiting the program was not included in the state budget passed this afternoon. When signed by the Governor the budget will re-instate eligibility for thousands of incarcerated people. Chuck Meire, the Deputy Director of Policy for JULIAN shared “The passage of today's budget fulfills a promise to thousands of Virginians and their families. Removing the budget language restriction on Earned Sentence Credits provides an attainable pathway to successful reentry for thousands of incarcerated Virginians. These people have worked hard to demonstrate their rehabilitation and readiness to rejoin their communities.”

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According to Meire, the benefits of this program spread beyond the immediate impacts for incarcerated people, “ESCs have been shown to reduce recidivism by incentivizing rehabilitation. These people will come home regardless, we need to provide them with a path to success. This decision will save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually and continue to reduce Virginia's prison population while retaining our place among the safest states in America." An analysis of the cost savings from expanding the ESC program shows that the Commonwealth will reduce expenditures on direct costs of incarceration by $28 million over the next two years. If the reduced prison population causes prison closures the two-year savings could be as high as $118 million.

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This victory was the work of a collective effort, JULIAN is proud to stand with our allies and grateful to the legislature and all of our partners, including the Humanization Project, ACLU Virginia, and more who made this victory a reality. We will continue the fight to create achievable pathways to rehabilitation and to ensure that incarcerated people have the tools and opportunities to return to their communities successfully.

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About JULIAN

JULIAN is a national civil and human rights organization providing legal, policy, advocacy,

crisis management and movement-building services to victims and survivors of

discrimination. JULIAN’s mission is to attack discrimination in all forms in order to exact

justice, foster equality, and advance the doctrines of civil and human rights law. The

organization’s intention is to revive the spirit, effectiveness, strategies, and impact of the

civil rights movement.

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