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Committee to reexamine commissary, telecom contracts after members cite high pricing and revenue sharing
Summary
Lawmakers on the Corrections & Institutions committee asked subcommittee members to reconvene and clarify commissary pricing, a telecom contract tied to an alleged ~30% revenue share, and whether H294 could be used as a strike-all vehicle to address both telecoms and commissary practices.
Speaker 2 told the committee there had been "some energy" around telecommunications and "wondering about that 30% kickback" tied to commissary/telecommunications arrangements. Members recalled working in separate subcommittees last session on commissary and on telecoms and agreed to reconvene those groups to review pricing menus, vendor contracts, and where net revenues are directed.
Speaker 1 asked Joe and Kevin to focus on commissary questions and asked Sean and Will to refresh telecom-related notes and return with a short summary of outstanding questions. "If you could stop... go look at the bill, look at your notes... and then come back and give us some direction," Speaker 1 said, setting a near-term timeline for reporting back.
The committee discussed possible legislative vehicles. Speaker 1 suggested using H294 (described in the meeting as a commissary/telecommunications bill) to carry a strike-all amendment to consolidate related fixes. No vendor names, contract text, or formal findings were provided during the meeting; members agreed the issue requires document review and either agency testimony or vendor responses in a future hearing.
