Whenever a state prisoner calls home, Virginia gets a tack-on fee. At 35 percent of the prepaid or collect-call charges, these add up to more than $3 million a year.
Del. Patrick A. Hope, D-Arlington, tried to change that this year, but was voted down. His House Bill 414 would have cut the state’s fee to 10 percent and dedicated that money to prisoner re-entry programs. Right now it just goes into the general fund.
“This is a tax on these families who have done nothing wrong,” Hope said. “It’s a deterrent to communicating with your kids or your mother and father.”
Over the last three years (2011-2013) this fee brought in between $3.86 million and $3.13 million to state coffers, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. The department didn’t have the amount that its telephone provider, Global Tel Link, charged for the calls.
I can remember all sorts of people whining and complaining that Virginia shouldn’t be making money off of liquor sales back when Governor McDonnell wanted to privatize Virginia’s liquor stores. I suppose, however, it’s ok to skim a few million off of families of Virginia’s inmate population, every time they call home?
Shame on Virginia and shame on the General Assembly for keeping this practice up. How many families are living below the poverty line because a loved one is incarcerated? How many little children are growing up not knowing a parent (usually a father)? Shouldn’t inmates be encouraged to stay in contact with family? Isn’t the family the unit that conservatives turn to that strengthens our society?
Virginia needs to stop making money off people in prison. Virginia also needs to return voting rights as soon as an individual has served his or her time. I see no correlation between crime and voting rights. Once you have served your time, that’s it. What does violent or non-violent crime have to do with someone’s right to vote?
Virginia needs to be doing some serious reform when it comes to its prison population and those who are “off paper.”*
*”off paper” means released and no longer on probation
It sounds like a good idea Moon but I suspect it will be a hard sell since it seems the general attitude is, “When you got ’em down, keep on kicking’ ’em.” The voting restriction is a fine example of this philosophy.
But on the booze selling business–I still think the Commonwealth need to get out of the retail liquor business. We might like to look at Maine where the state controls the import and sale of booze. They are still making money off liquor sales and they don’t have the issue of owning/leasing stores and all the “legacy” that goes with employees. Of course, the people who worked in their Green Front stores lost out on the deal.
Virginia s a long tradition of owning its ABC stores.
I agree that the punishment goes on and on and on. The voting restriction is purely punitive and actually makes no sense at all.
I am not even sure the gun restrictions make sense and I am surprised the 2A folks aren’t howling about it. Isn’t it they who always say criminals can get guns any time they want them anyway?
Those who have turned their lives around and are keeping on the straight and narrow cannot protect themselves. Those who don’t give a rat’s ass about remaining crime free will do what they want anyway.
ABC package stores are one tradition that should NEVER change. Even former Gov. McD, saw that idea was NOT going anywhere here in the Old Dominion.
Totally agree, Lafayette! We beat back the invaders on this one.
So should the state be gouging the families of inmates? These families have done nothing. It seems to me that encouraging inmates to communicate with home is a good thing. If it costs the family an arm and a leg, that discourages communication.
Am I being a bleeding heart or is this just common sense?
@Lafayette
Why should ABC package stores be “one tradition that should NEVER change”? if the state could make just as much as it does now or even more if there were more places selling booze, wouldn’t that be a good deal? In addition, it would do away with a LOT of expenses–building leases, maintenance, utilities, and, perhaps regrettably, salaries and retirement.
I would guess because most Virginians like their tradition. Virginia makes a boatload of money from its booze sales. Why give up that annual income which is in the millions?
If more places were selling booze, those places would be getting the money, not Virginia. Selling the stores would be a one time deal, not an on-going one.
Moon-please go back and read what I wrote about Maine. Maine controls the import and sale of all booze and gets a significant income from the sales of all alcoholic beverages without the hassle of owning and maintaining stores and paying folks to run those stores. While I didn’t dig deeply into it, I suspect their present profit is greater than when the owned stores. They didn’t sell the stores, they CLOSED them and sold licenses to stores to sell booze.
If we held on to our traditions, we would still be flying the Stars and Bars and singing “Dixie.”
Oh, and speaking of how much Virginia made on liquor sales. In 2013, booze sales amounted to $769 million. Profit was $134 million. A 17% profit. What happened to the $635 million? Cost of booze, buildings, salaries, retirement, maintenance, etc, etc, etc.
$134 million is nothing to sneeze at.
Ownership of the stores creates jobs and gives Virginia total control of its own stores. That was important back in the 20th century. Maybe now too….
Some of our traditions are good, some not to good. I am not willing to throw out our various Confederate flags either. They are a part of my heritage and tradition. On the other hand, I don’t believe that flying said flags publically is a good practice. Some folks are offended and reminded of times that were painful. I think they do have a place in museums, educational settings and in private homes.
Would I fly a confederate flag off my porch? No. I would look like a redneck. Might I have a display down in my rec room where I keep family artifacts? Sure. I also have a Rising Sun flag in a vitrine, alone beside my father’s WWII medals. I sure wouldn’t display the Rising Sun on my front porch either.
More to come as I go over their annual report. It costs a LOT to sell booze.there are additional transfers such as sales tax, booze tax, malt liquor tax, etc. but these would be collected anyway so what shoulder be looked at is just net profit from sales, which I have already shown you. But in the name of full disclosure, will show you more if you want. Just say, Yes or No.
Moon, we are at the tomato-tomahto stage of this discussion. Let’s call the whole thing off. It could probably be half again as much profit but not as long as people insist that the state be in the booze selling business. I don’t know hat you mean by, “…gives Virginia total control of its own stores.” There will still be an ABC Control Board and they make the rules. No one is advocating total abandonment of liquor control. Just saying there is an opportunity to make more off of selling booze than folks are willing to admit. But I guess the Commonwealth is rich enough that it is not an issue.