Digital Inclusion

Congress Tried Twice to Reduce Prison Phone Rates

The House’s first attempt spelled out detailed limits; the final law left those details to the FCC.

Jericho Casper

Nov 11, 2025 — 4 min read

Photo of Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., by Andrew Harnik/AP.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2025 – Two years before Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission to rein in the cost of prison phone calls, lawmakers in the House tried to impose their own limits on the industry.

That House effort began in 2021 when Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., introduced the Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act. The bill sought to reform the incarcerated communications marketplace by setting interim call rates at just four to five cents per minute, explicitly banning payments telecom providers make to correctional facilities in exchange for exclusive contracts, and imposing strict limits on ancillary fees.

While House lawmakers' more prescriptive approach never made it out of committee, it paved the way for a narrower Senate version that became law on January 5, 2023, after passed by the Senate on Dec. 21, 2022, and passage by the House on Dec. 22, 2022.

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Digital Inclusion Bobby Rush FCC Martha Wright-Reed Act Danny Davis Jessica Rosenworcel Brendan Carr Martha Wright Prison Phone Justice Act

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