New York is set to lower the minimum hiring age for prison guards from 21 to 18, seeking to boost the ranks of corrections officers during a shortage that was exacerbated by the firing of more than 2,000 guards after a weekslong strike crippled the state’s prison system.

State lawmakers approved the measure on Wednesday and Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is expected to sign it into law.

The bill establishes some rules for the younger guards, including policies that they cannot obtain or use firearms or transport inmates outside of prisons. They also must be supervised when performing “contact roles” with inmates during the first year-and-a-half on the job.

The push to lower the age for correction officers came after guards walked off the job in February while striking to protest poor working conditions. Hochul was forced to deploy the state National Guard to prisons to maintain operations during the strike.