Collect call kickbacks

The Legislative Council Committee on Charitable, Penal and Correctional Institutions today took up the issue of the commission the Department of Corrections collects on collect phone calls inmates make to those on the outside. We occasionally receive these collect phone calls at my law office, and I've made the mistake of accepting them in the past. The Department of Corrections has contracted with Global Tel Link (GTL) for its provider of prison phone service, and the state's new reduced take is a 45% commission of collect phone calls made from prison. This is worth a little over $2 million annually to the department and is footed largely by family members and friends of the incarcerated. Proponents contend that these funds are necessary for prison programs, and without them, the state would have to take up the slack. Opponents call it an unlegislated backdoor tax. This is an issue that has been raised in several states and also concerns interstate calls -- seems to me that the FCC should weigh in.

Update: Apparently, the FCC has weighed in. Here are a couple of links:
FCC Inmate Telephone Service
Public Utility Law Project