MADISON - Wisconsin lawmakers are hoping to preserve the ability for incarcerated people to shop at different vendors for personal items, despite a plan by the state to only offer one choice.
The legislation, which was proposed by Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, seeks to ensure the Department of Corrections is working with at leastthree vendors of personal property at all times, including one vendor that could offer a storefront in Milwaukee.
The legislation follows the department cutting back from having three vendors provide personal items.Instead, it awarded just one contract toUnion Supply Group, a California-based company with a warehouse in Wisconsin.
Union Supply is one of the three vendors the department has historically worked with, along withKeefe Commissary Network and the Milwaukee-based Jack L. Marcus, the only vendor to offer an in-person ordering option.
Incarcerated individuals or their family members can order personal items such as shampoo, toothpaste, clothing, books, puzzles and musical instruments from the vendors, which then deliverthe orders to prisons.
The vendors serve a prison population of about19,000 spread across 39 Wisconsin institutions. The vendors do not serve every prison location.
The Union Supply contract was finalized on July 8 and is set to begin on October. The new contract will mark some changes for ordering personal property, such as a switch todigital-only ordering and an expansion of product offerings, said L.D. Hay, the company's executive vice president.
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Rep. Samba Baldeh, D-Madison, is one of the lawmakers who signed on to co-sponsor the legislation, after being contacted by constituents worried about the change. He heard from one family who ordered from Union Supply, but the order took nearly six months to arrive at the correctional facility. Others alsocomplained that there were issues with customer service, he said.
Baldeh said he worries that those issues will be exacerbated when the department switches to using just one vendor.
"Without competition, how can you respond to complaints like that?" he said.
He noted that having three or more vendors for items ensures there are fair prices and that there is access to different items. It's also a matter of taking the steps to reform a prison system that is in need of change, Baldeh said.
"I think this may look small, but it is important to people who are incarcerated to have access to quality services and affordable services," he said. "This is a part of that reform."
In a statement, Gov. Tony Evers said the department was only seeking to provide the best for people in the state's care.
"This contract, which has not taken effect yet, was awarded through the standard and competitive procurement process with the intent to provide the best level of service for people in our care," he said."The DOC will be monitoring the implementation of the contract very carefully to ensure it meets those expectations."
He did not say whether he would signthe bill if it is approved by the Assembly and Senate.
Schraa, who authored the bill, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
Advocates hope to see bill pass
The department gave a number of reasons for switching to a single contract, including having a single, dedicated customer support system, a better warranty response, expanded offerings of approved items and a simplified ordering process with a standardized catalog.
The change would also cut down on the work required of department staff, including being the go-between to resolve order issues.
In a statement, Secretary Kevin Carr said the department made the decision to switch to one vendor to offer a better experience for incarcerated people.
"It is premature to assess the effectiveness of moving to a single vendor before the contract takes effect," Carr said.
If the contract ends out not working with only one vendor, the department will reassess the plan, but for now, the plan is to give Union Supply a chance.
But advocates say that incarcerated individuals and their families don't see only one vendor as any sort of a solution.
Ramiah Whiteside, who was incarcerated for nearly 20 yearsand is now a member of EX-incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO), is hopefulabout the legislation.Over the last few months he's heard several complaints and concerns about the shift in vendors, from incarcerated individuals and their loved ones.
Taking away options will only hurt people, he said.
"People in the community don't understand the justification for this," he said."It's a slap in the face to them."
Right now, there are issues with inmates not being able to place orders through Union Supply for certain items, he said.
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He said that out of the current vendors, Union Supply seems to have more issues with out-of-stock items and delayed orders, he said, sometimes forcing inmates to wait months for clothing, toothpaste, shampoo or even vitamins.
During Wednesday's hearing, Hay of Union Supply said all suppliers over the last year have experienced supply chain issues due to the coronavirus pandemic which caused issues with some items. But the company has taken steps to stop that from happening again.
"We have over the last nine months because of the supply chain shortage, we've increased our inventories nationwide because we ordered in huge quantities," he said.
In addition to other issues, advocates also worried about the lack of an in-person store, which is an option currently offered by J.L. Marcus in Milwaukee. Loved ones of incarcerated people often shop at the store and pay in cashbecause they don't have checks or a credit card, advocates said.
Jerome Dillard, the executive director of EXPO, said options shouldn't be limited further for a group of people with already slim choices.
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"Three isn't a lot of choices," Dillard said, "but one, that gives a vendor a chance to manipulate the system. People are trying to keep a loved one comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. No one should have a monopoly over that."
The two are also highly concerned over the lack of an in-person location for family members or loved ones to place orders.
"Removing that in-person option, how do you justify that?" Whiteside said.
Both Whiteside and Dillard feel hopeful, though, seeing bipartisan support for the bill.
"Bipartisanship on legislation speaks volumes," Whiteside said.
How secure is in-person ordering?
Jodi Weber, the president of JLM, alsohopes to see the bill passed. If it doesn't and the department moves forward with its plan to contract only with Union Supply, she stands to lose about 30% of the business her store gets.
Weber said her family has been providing personal property to incarcerated individuals for about 30 years. Her father started providing the service for incarcerated people before there was even a contract to do so, she said. He noticed that people would come into the storefront and ask to have clothing or shoes sent to a loved one at one of the correctional facilities in the state.
"He would get all these different requests for it and he was thinking 'Why can't we just do this? Why can't we just make a business out of it?'" Weber said."And that's what he did so he was the first one in this industryto even get this started."
Since then, the portion of JLM dedicated to getting shipments to incarcerated people throughout the state has become a well-oiled machine, she said. The process is highly secure, despite claims from the department that the in-person option could be unsafe.
Employees are the only ones who handle merchandise for orders, after they're placed online, by mail, by phone or at the customer service desk in the store.
When orders come in, employees work to sort them by facility, and then the items are gathered and packaged in boxes. Weber estimates that after an order is received, incarcerated people get them within a week.
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No customer ever comes into contact with the merchandise.
"Everything is very secure, and the people doing this have been working for us for years," she said.
Some of the people working in the warehouse to sort and package orders have been there as long as 45 years. The average number of years worked for the company is about 12 to 15, Weber said. JLM employs 75 people between the department store downstairs and the personal property vending. The workforce is diverse, too, with the majority of workers being women and/or people of color.
Beyond packaging and shipping, Weber also has a team dedicated to answering questions and concerns about orders, and processing returns when needed.
Tillise Ruffin is one of the customer service representatives who takes calls, and said her phone rings all day. She can't imagine one company being able to handle the volume of calls that three businesses are currently getting.
"It's going to be overwhelming and they're not going to be able to keepupbecause we have so many facilities in Wisconsin," she said.
Ruffin also pointed out how important the in-person shopping aspect is to those who use it. Typically it's older family members who feel uncomfortable using a credit card or who may not even have one, and can only make purchases with cash. She said she's fielded calls already from family members worried about losing their only option to make sure their loved one on the inside has what they need.
"Once they don't have that option, and they have to go online, they won't," she said. "Because they've never done it or don't know how."
Yolanda Lacking, the JLM store manager, saidshe and her colleagues help people go through the catalogue, explaining items or prices. That's a service people just won't get anymore if the physical store isn't an option.
Hay, of Union, said during the Wednesday bill hearing that the company would have created a Milwaukee storefront for walk-in orders if that was something the department had asked for.
Weber plans to submit her company again if there is another request for proposals by the department.
"We're a local business, we're a small business. We're not saying give us preferential treatment, we're not saying they should have picked us," Weber said. "We're just saying let us compete."
Laura Schulte can be reached atleschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.
