To the Editor:
While hard-working families across the Commonwealth stretch every dollar to cope with inflation, the Massachusetts legislature and Governor Maura Healey have quietly locked in a permanent, multimillion-dollar burden for taxpayers. The mandate to provide free, unlimited phone calls and video communications for inmates is costing our state an estimated $20 million to $22 million annually.
This policy represents a fundamental misplacement of priorities. By completely eliminating financial responsibility for inmates, the state has shifted the entirety of this operational cost directly onto law-abiding citizens. To make matters worse, removing these phone revenues strips funding away from the very sheriff’s department programs designed to foster inmate rehabilitation, security, and vocational training.
Every dollar our state government funnels into maintaining free telecommunications for the incarcerated is a dollar taken away from critical local infrastructure, underfunded public school systems, and community programs that support seniors and working families. This is not a matter of compassion; it is a matter of fiscal irresponsibility.
Governor Healey and state lawmakers must stop prioritizing free perks for inmates at the expense of the taxpayers who foot the bill. It is time to restore accountability to the state budget and put the needs of law-abiding citizens first.
Sincerely,
George Ferdinand
Tewksbury, MA
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