CONNECTICUT — Worth Rises joins incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, their families, and other advocates in celebrating the Connecticut Appropriations Committee on releasing a state budget yesterday evening that fully funds free communication for incarcerated people. The bill that these budget line items support, Senate Bill 972, is a Judiciary Committee bill that would allow Connecticut residents to communicate with their incarcerated loved ones at no cost, prohibit the state from taking kickbacks from its prison telecom vendor, and protect visits for Connecticut residents with incarcerated loved ones.
The budget allocates $11.4 million to the issue (see pages 78, 249, and 256 of the budget) with $2.2 million going to cover the Connecticut Criminal Justice Information System, $6.0 million to the Connecticut Department of Correction, and $3.2 million to the Connecticut Judicial Department. This allocation covers the fiscal note for SB 972 by allocating funds to both address the cost of service and the gap in revenue that would be created by the bill.
“We are really grateful to Senator Cathy Osten, Representative Toni Walker, Senator Gary Winfield, and Representative Juan Candelaria for their budget advocacy, Representative Josh Elliott for his long-time championship on this issue, and each of the bill’s 30 co-sponsors for their leadership support. This is a major step that gets us over the fiscal hurdle, but there is still work to do to ensure that SB 972 becomes law. We look forward to working with all Connecticut legislators in the coming weeks to see SB 972 passed this session,” said Bianca Tylek, Executive Director at Worth Rises.
Background: For years, Connecticut families have paid unconscionable rates to stay connected with their incarcerated loved ones. As the Connecting Families coalition pushed to make prison phone calls free, over the past year, Connecticut earned the dubious distinction of ranking last in the country in the affordability of prison calls. More than 20 advocacy organizations authored a joint letter to the Connecticut state legislature, calling on lawmakers to pass legislation. For more information, please see the coalition fact sheet and read the impact stories.
If you are covering this issue and would like to speak to Bianca Tylek, please contact Taylor Campbell at (347) 804-9001 or tcampbell@worthrises.org.
###
Worth Rises is a national nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry and ending the exploitation of those it touches. Follow @worthrises on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.