Mass. House Budget Plan Includes Free Inmate Calls
The Massachusetts House included no-cost calls at jails and prisons in a budget proposal released Wednesday. It would tag $20 million in the Communications Access Trust Fund for that purpose. Massachusetts legislators passed a budget bill last year that included…
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free inmate calls, but the proposal died due to disagreement between the legislature and then-Gov. Charlie Baker (R) over an unrelated detention issue (see 2208030056). "The House proposal is good," Progressive Massachusetts Policy Director Jonathan Cohn emailed Thursday. Unlike a previous proposal by Gov. Maura Healey (D), the House's plan doesn't cap the number of free call minutes or exclude county jails, said Cohn: The governor "seemed to be responding to lobbying from sheriffs, who have been a major roadblock."