HB 1546 would require that judges credit time served diligently participating in any educational, vocational, treatment, or work program towards a defendant’s sentence. This bill would stipulate that the credit may not exceed one-fifth of the defendant’s original sentence. However, the time credit is expressly written as “a privilege and not a right.”

HB 1546 is the least restrictive way to address the high cost of state spending on corrections. This bill would decrease the public cost of corrections in a very balanced way that does not allow convicts to game the system and reduce their sentences by an unreasonable amount. We support this bill for promoting individual liberty, personal responsibility, and limited government.

We also support the Senate companion bill, SB 589.