Free Prison Calls Bill Signed by the Governor

June 17, 2021
At the beginning of the month, the House passed SB 972 also known as the free prison calls bill, and this week the Governor signed the bill into law. As a champion and proponent of the bill, I was proud to speak in favor of the bill. I encourage you to watch the video below to help understand why the passage of this bill is a great step forward for families throughout our state.
 
Upon the bill passing the Senate last month, President Pro Tem, Martin Looney offered a few words about the families this will affect:

“Many of those families are very poor. Many of them are not able to travel to visit their incarcerated relatives because they are so far away on other ends of the state,” Sen. Looney said. “So the only lifeline, the only way to possibly keep in contact is to have as frequent phone conversations and phone contacts as they possibly can.”

 
Late last night during the House Special Session, we passed an amended version of SB 1201 or the cannabis bill.

After years of debate and hard-work, the legislature has worked to crafted a comprehensive program to legalize cannabis and lift-up our communities, especially those who have paid the highest price for marijuana possession and use.

Our version of the bill does still follow the same main parameters to legalize recreational use of cannabis in Connecticut, but because we made changes to the Senate's version of the bill, it will head back to their Chamber for a hopeful final round of votes today.