House Bill 6367 (phones!!)

[deb]

Fellow Michiganders and anyone else who has time to help:

I received my MI-CURE newsletter today. House Bill 6367 can be found at www.michiganlegislature.org. This bill would: limit the rate they can charge us for calls and allow the Public Service Commission to monitor this, allow anyone to receive a call regardless what phone provider a person has, allow inmates to make collect calls AND TOLL-FREE CALLS, prevent lines from being blocked unless the person fails to pay AFTER they receive their bill, limit the state's kick back to 25% (around 1/2 of what they get now), and require MDOC and the Dept of Management and Budget to renegotiate the current contract to implement these provisions within 6 months of the effective date of the legislation.

Representative Ken Daniels introduced the bill and it is in the House Criminal Justice Committee. The legislature will be in session for a while in December---and could receive action if we all contact our State Representative and let them know how important this is. Jennifer Faunce (Warren) is the Chairperson of the committee---call her or e-mail her and have her schedule a hearing on the bill. We need to have our reps get after her to set up a hearing too. Other people on this committee are: Michiel Kowall (Vice-Chair), Paul DeWeese, Tom George, Larry Julian, Andrew Raczkowski, Alan Sanborn, Bill McConico (Vice-Chair), William Callahan, William O'Neil, and Vera Rison. Contact your state senator and have them sponsor a senate version of the bill. After December---new people in office won't be familiar with this---if we can get it to happen in Dec maybe it could be positive.

To be informed of any committee hearings when they do happen send your name and phone # to MI-CURE at P.O. Box 2736 Kalamazoo, MI 49003 or e-mail Kay Perry at kayperry@aol.com---she can also give anyone more information or e-mails of folks to contact that are in office.

Addresses to write to regarding complaints, phone problems, and anything regarding the damn current MDOC phone system are:

Public Service Commission
PO Box 30221
Lansing, MI 48909

Telephone System Contract Manager
Dept of Corrections
PO Box 30003
Lansing, MI 48909

Attorney General's Office
PO Box 30218
Lansing, MI 48911

Governor John Engler--soon to be Jennifer Granholm
PO Box 30013
Lansing, MI 48909

William T. Esrey
Sprint
6200 Sprint Parkway
Overland Park, KS 66251

Dept of Management and Budget
PO Box 30026
Lansing, MI 48909

All of our congressmen and senator's have e-mail addresses as well as does the Governor and Att Gen. You can find them all under a website for the state of Michigan. If everyone did this they would be more likely to listen. Please help. Can you imagine if we can set up toll-free calls? Even just cheaper and get the bill before we pay and NO more Correctional Billing Service?????

Deb

[petrucci508]

Sounds great..... We all just need to stick together and put up a fight!

[snowdancer]

Dear Deb,

Thank you for this very helpful information...... Come on now everyone get writing you your representatives! This is the only way that we can get these things passed!!!!!!!

Hugs,

Jodi

[witchlinblue]

Thank you for this, this is something positive finally, or at least a start in the right direction. Thanks

[David]

*Move*
I am moving this to the phone section, but leaving a re-direct in the Michigan forum since it pertains to it.

[Cameo]

Hey Deb...any more infor on this? Do we need to start recruiting members to get on this? Michigan is building up here in numbers...so let me know!

[Jeni]

Why didn't I see this post before! We need to get this thing going!!!!

[Soul SLiver]

Man O Man do I wish I were in Michigan...

[sweetpea]

I second that Soul Sliver!! Maybe once it's passed there, other states will soon follow. Though, if that were true, I'm sure Florida will be last.