DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Prison inmates in Iowa are paying cheaper telephone rates to talk to their families under a rule change that Governor Terry Branstad has highlighted as part of his criminal justice reform efforts, but the change was also federally mandated.

The F.C.C. adopted changes last year, including a rule that prisons can charge inmates a maximum of 11 cents per minute for telephone calls within the United States. The Iowa Department of Corrections removed a more expensive flat rate in January.

Branstad highlighted the change in his Condition of the State address when he specified his criminal justice reform efforts in Iowa. Branstad’s spokesman says the timing of the federal requirement is coincidental, though a corrections spokesman says the change was greatly influenced by the Federal Communications Commission.