House Corrections committee reviews H.294 to end inmate phone charges, cap commissary markups and require federal minimum wage for sentenced labor

The House Corrections and Institutions committee on April 10 reviewed H.294, a bill that would (1) require telecommunication services in state correctional facilities to be provided at no cost to incarcerated people and the parties they contact, (2) cap commissary prices to no more than 10% above fair-market prices in the surrounding community, (3) direct the Department of Corrections (DOC) to evaluate existing vendor contracts and report back, and (4) require that sentenced offenders be paid at least the federal minimum wage unless federal law provides otherwise.

John Gray, Legislative Counsel, said the bill would “provide for no cost to inmates, to their families and to other communicating with inmates,” and described the change as moving “from having telecommunications at cost to moving to no cost.” Gray also summarized the commissary provision as requiring that “prices shall…