SECTION 1: Chapter 127, as appearing in section 80 of chapter 69 of the acts of 2018, of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following new section immediately after section 48B:-

Section 48C:  The commissioner and administrators of state prisons and county facilities shall maximize out of cell time and opportunities for prisoner participation in education, training, employment, and all other programming including programming related to rehabilitation, health care and substance use. All prisoners shall have the opportunity to access at least one hour of programming daily at least five days a week.  With the exception of restrictive housing and security or operational emergencies, no prisoner shall be locked into a cell for more than 16 hours daily.

SECTION 2: Section 48 of Chapter 127, as appearing in section 80 of chapter 69 of the acts of 2018, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence immediately after the first sentence of the second paragraph (“The commissioner shall ensure that at least 1 educational program leading to the award of a high school equivalency certificate is available to persons who are committed to the custody of the department or to a county correctional facility for not less than 6 months and who have not obtained a high school degree or equivalency”):

Every state and county correctional facility must have at least one general high school equivalency (GED) class available.