Texas Public Policy Foundation and the First Step Act bring state-based criminal justice solutions to DC
State-based ideas can inform and shape federal policy for the better, and the latest state think tank to prove this is Texas Public Policy Foundation.
On December 18, 2018, the US Senate passed the First Step Act, a set of criminal justice reforms that will improve the ways we help criminals re-enter society and reduce the likelihood of these individuals returning to prison. The Act represents the most sweeping criminal justice reform in the last 30 years.
The reforms have their roots in Texas — specifically in research and ideas put forth by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. In 2005, Texas Public Policy Foundation launched Right on Crime, a national campaign that “supports conservative solutions for reducing crime, restoring victims, reforming offenders, and lowering taxpayer costs.” The Foundation’s focus on criminal justice reform was a timely one because Texas soon found itself facing unsustainable prison populations and costs.
From its research, Texas Public Policy Foundation knew that the state would have to approve an additional $2 billion to add just 17,000 prison beds to the current prison population of 170,000. Their research also revealed that a different and more compassionate path was possible: spend less and minimize the need for beds by taking steps to connect inmates with rehabilitation and educational opportunities.
The Texas Legislature agreed, and by 2007, Texas was a national model for prison reform. Since then, eight Texas prisons have closed, the prison population has decreased by 30,000, and the crime rate has reached its lowest point since 1967.
Texas-inspired criminal justice reforms have since made their way to numerous states, including Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi,Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Now, thanks to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, these solutions have found their way DC at a time when the nation is facing the same criminal justice challenges that Texas knows well.
According to the Foundation, the annual price tag for federal, state, and local prison systems is $80 billion. Even with this investment, two-thirds of inmates end up back in prison.
While $80 billion is a steep number, the greater cost to society is that our prison system hasn’t succeeded in guiding inmates, particularly nonviolent offenders, toward second chances.
“The act empowers the Bureau of Prisons to ensure that inmates leave better than they come in, with the benefits of evidence-based programming behind the walls, incentives to participate in these programs, skills training that will lead to employment and appropriate step-down measures such as pre-release custody,” says John Koufos, national director of reentry initiatives at Right On Crime.
Koufos also points out that, by helping inmates, the First Step Act will have positive benefits for our communities: “With the First Step Act, we can help save tomorrow’s victims by helping formerly incarcerated men and women find jobs, become taxpayers, pay victim restitution and child support and reunify with their families and communities.”
State Policy Network congratulates Texas Public Policy Foundation on its leadership in crafting much-needed criminal justice reforms and inspiring numerous states and DC to pursue solutions that will enable our country to better serve its inmates and communities.
