Rep. Rush Refiles Bill on ICS Rate Limits
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., said Friday he refiled his Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act (HR-2489) in a bid to protect inmates from unreasonable prison phone charges. The bill, first filed last year (see 2003270061), would bar communications providers from…
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receiving site commissions earned by prisons and other confinement facilities. It would cap inmate calling service rates at 4 cents per minute for prepaid calls and 5 cents per minute for collect calls. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., plans to refile her similar Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act “in the coming weeks,” Rush’s office said. “The suspension of in-person visits in prisons and jails across the country due to COVID-19 restrictions made phone calls one of the only ways inmates could stay connected with friends and family,” Rush said. “It is heart-wrenching that, as prisons became early petri dishes for the spread of the virus, something as simple as calling to check on the health and safety of a loved one could exact such a heavy financial toll.” The House passed the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act last year as part of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (see 2009290044). “I hope to see it finally signed into law” in this Congress, Rush said.