Last year, the Massachusetts State House passed legislation to guarantee free communication between incarcerated individuals and their loved ones ("no-cost calls").

To ensure full and effective implementation of no-cost calls, we need both dedicated funding and robust reporting by the Department of Correction and County Sheriffs. Write to your state senator to ask them to urge Senate President Spilka and Ways & Means Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues to include key priorities in the final FY 2025 budget the Legislature will pass this summer:

• Dedicate $35M in the Communications Access Trust Fund for no–cost calls in prisons and jails (item 1595-6153 in the House FY 2025 budget proposal)

• Make technical fixes to the reporting requirements, so that policymakers have the information they need to effectively monitor free communication (Section 29 A&B of the Senate FY 2025 budget proposal)