Both the payments to prisoners and the recovery by the state — particularly at least $90,000 collected to cover prisoner "room and board" — are controversial.
The net inflow of $16.5 million to state prisoners — or about $500 per inmate, on average — has also prompted concern among prison managers and corrections officers about the money being used to purchase drugs, weapons and other contraband, as well as inspiring potentially violent extortion plots
Critics say prisoners have not lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic and therefore do not need extra federal help. Also, they are not truly part of the economy and are in no position to stimulate it, critics say.