-Source- The Hill-
At the end of March, pundits in Washington believed the legislative process was sputtering to a halt. As The Associated Press reported: "With passage of an enormous budget bill, the GOP-controlled Congress all but wrapped up its legislating for the year."
But then something happened. A collection of determined legislators, all keenly aware that the country's challenges weren't about to take an eight-month break, decided to keep working toward bipartisan solutions. The new impulse didn't come from the far right or the far left. It didn't even come from the Senate or House leadership. The new energy came from deal makers in both parties who feel rightfully obliged to use their positions of power to address the nation's pressing needs. And the first issue to bubble up for bipartisan consideration was one the Trump White House has pushed Capitol Hill to address: prison reform.
The public is well-acquainted with the problem. Criminals too frequently emerge from prison incapable of establishing healthy, productive, law-abiding lives. So they end up committing new crimes and being sent back to prison. Voters across the spectrum are demanding that Washington do something to break the cycle. And while extremists on the left and right would happily hold prison reform bills hostage to other reforms, deal-making Republicans and Democrats realized this challenge was one on which they could do business. So they began to negotiate.
Those talks bore fruit. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the First Step Act, a bill that establishes new incentives for prisoners to enter the sorts of prison rehabilitation programs that reduce recidivism. The theory is simple and intuitive: If prisoners exhibit good behavior and set themselves up for success outside of prison, they should be given credits that allow them to be released earlier. As a result, the First Step Act aims to thin the burgeoning American prison population. Read more
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