N.Y. loses out on inmate calls
The multimillion-dollar windfall that New York used to receive from collect calls made from state prisons is history.
The state Senate and Assembly have agreed on the Family Connections Bill, a measure that eliminates the 58% kickback that the state received from the cost of each collect call made by prisoners.
It was a “tax” that netted the state more than $20 million a year until Gov. Eliot Spitzer ended the practice in January.
The new law also requires that any contract with a telephone company be awarded to the lowest bidder. The bill awaits Spitzer’s signature.
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