A bill to fight expensive prison phone call costs heads to Biden's desk

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January 1st, 2023

President Joe Biden hands the pen he used to sign the Democrats' landmark climate change and health care bill to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., watches in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Aug. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Legislation that aims to curb the costs of phone calls behind bars is heading to President Biden’s desk for his signature.

The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, which was approved by Congress last month, is a major victory for the Federal Communications Commission in its yearslong fight to cap how much private companies charge incarcerated people for phone calls.

In a statement, FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks called the newly passed legislation a “win for equity.”

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