A third FCC commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, backs issuing...
A third FCC commissioner, Jessica Rosenworcel, backs issuing the Further NPRM on inmate calling services being circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (CD Sept 26 p10), a Rosenworcel aide told us Friday. “Commissioner Rosenworcel supports asking more…
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questions to continue the goal of reforming inmate calling services and doing so without further delay,” emailed Valery Galasso, special advisor to Rosenworcel. Though three members would constitute a majority of the commission, it was not immediately clear when the item would be formally approved. The FNPRM prepares for taking “the next critical step toward reducing the high price paid by inmates and their families to communicate,” said Wheeler and Clyburn in a statement (http://fcc.us/1BgnReG) Thursday. The commission’s 2013 order (CD Aug 12/13 p3), which included interim price caps on interstate inmate calls, reduced those rates by as much as nearly 40 percent, the statement said, but “many families of inmates still face exorbitant rates for in-state calls, not to mention punitive and irrational fees -- all of which make the simple act of staying in touch unaffordable.” The proposed FNPRM would make permanent the interim caps, create permanent caps on intrastate calls, bar the commissions ICS providers pay to correctional facilities, and cap ancillary charges placed on top of the rates (CD Sept 25 p1). The proposed FNPRM “proposes a simple, market-based solution to address all these problems. It proposes rules that will ensure that ALL Americans -- including inmates and their families -- have access to phone service at rates that are just, reasonable and fair,” said Clyburn and Wheeler. The 2013 order was approved on a partisan vote, and some elements were stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (CD Jan14 p3). A spokesman for Commissioner Ajit Pai, who dissented to the 2013 order, said in an email to us, “we hope that the agency will reach a bipartisan consensus that heeds the limits of the law.” Arent Fox’s Stephanie Joyce, representing Securus, said the ICS provider would file comments if the FNPRM is issued. The circulation of the item was praised by Clarissa Ramon, Public Knowledge government affairs and outreach associate (http://bit.ly/1qChuw3): “The families of prisoners deserve relief from high fees and phone costs that result from the commission system in many states. We believe this is a step in the right direction for families of incarcerated individuals.”