Connecticut's Democratic Gov. is stonewalling the bill to make phone calls from prison free
In early April I reported that Connecticut could become the first state in the nation to make phone calls from prison free, following in the footsteps of New York City, which became the first city to do so last summer. In the seven weeks since the article was published, there’s been quite a lot of politicking around the bill — including covert lobbying against it from Securus, the national prison telecommunications firm that provides the phone services in Connecticut.
Today I reported an update on what’s been going on, and how the fate of the bill now depends on Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont getting behind it, something he’s so far declined to do. His deputies have cited vague cost objections, despite the bill having been amended to avoid any fiscal impacts for the next two years.
This story has also included the best denial from a PR person that I’ve ever received:
You can read the full story at The Intercept.