WORCESTER, Mass. - Gov. Maura Healey's budget offers a line item that would allow for $20 million to go towards funding phone calls for inmates at state prisons.

Allowing inmates to make free phone calls is not a new concept. Former Gov. Charlie Baker proposed it as well, but it was ultimately rejected. 

While separate from state prisons, county jail systems have already reduced their rates for inmate phone calls. 

"We had a pretty robust conversation about it," said Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis. "We as sheriffs we want to make sure that when we reintegrate our population back home, the easiest way to do that they need to be able to be in contact with who they need to be in contact with in the outside world.

"That contact with the outside world is really important. So I can understand why this is an important conversation, but I do have to say that nothing in this world is free."

Evangelidis said that in the county jails, the phone calls and video calls that the inmates make are paid for by their families. The taxpayers do not pay for that service. Although Healey's line item is for the state prisons currently, the county sheriffs across the state are preparing for the possibility that it will trickle down to the county jails in the future.

For Evangelidis, the concern comes down to funding. He's unsure if the state funding will be sufficient enough that the programs funded by the current surplus funds generated by the calls don't have to be cut.

"We do provide services to the inmates through the money we receive though the phone calls," Evangelidis said. "The sheriffs have reduced rates by half since this conversation began. We use the money we get for the inmate phone calls for things like mental health services, substance abuse programs and education. It’s a complicated question and it's not just giving free phone calls and calling it a day."

State Rep. Mary Keefe (D-Worcester) said it's something that the state should effort in order to ensure inmate's wellbeing. 

"Families are taxed in terms of providing a little bit of money here and there to allow inmates to take care of themselves," Keefe said. "I think the free phone calls is a really important first step in improving our visitation policies."

This debate will continue for the next few months as the governor's proposed budget is debated in the house and senate. It is scheduled to be approved by July, but a lot can happen in the coming months.