In California, incarcerated people are now able to make and receive free phone calls. The Keep Families Connected Act went into effect January 1. The nonprofit Worth Rises estimates that at least one in three California families with incarcerated loved ones went into debt to maintain regular contact with incarcerated loved ones as prison telecommunication corporations made millions of dollars in profits. California is only the second state in the U.S. to enact such a law, after Connecticut. Several major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, have similar policies in place at a local level. This comes as new federal legislation could curb the cost of prison phone calls nationwide following its passage by Congress last year. The bill is now on President Biden’s desk. On average, a 15-minute prison call costs over $5 — with some prisons charging a dollar or more per minute.