hot topic | WORKING ACROSS THE AISLE
Some Lawmakers Search for
COMMON GROUND by Jennifer Ginn
It can sometimes be hard to find common ground in the heat of a legislative session. Finding common ground with someone from another political party often can be even more elusive. But some legislators have found a way to work across the aisle.
Working on Prison Reform in Texas
CAPITOL IDEAS
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JULY / AUG 2012
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When Texas Rep. Jerry Madden, a Republican, was appointed chair of the Corrections Committee in 2005, the speaker of the house gave him one instruction: “The speaker told me my chore was not to build new prisons, because they cost too much,” Madden said. Madden didn’t have experience in criminal justice, so he started asking around about who he should talk to. Everyone told him Sen. John Whitmire, a Democrat and chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee since 1993, was the expert. “I wandered across the hall one day and I sat there for probably about two hours,” Madden said. “We just hit it off perfectly. (It was) ‘OK, I agree with most of what you’re saying’ and he agreed with most of what I was saying.” The pair immediately became partners, Whitmire said. “When we’d call in an agency or a department head, we’d be together and impress on them to do a better job,” Whitmire said. “He and I just started singing out of the same hymnbook. We weren’t singing the same song, but we had the same hymnbook.” Their partnership has done a lot for criminal justice in the Lone Star State. Instead of building three new prisons at a total cost of $500 million, they convinced the legislature and the governor to spend less than half that amount to create 6,000 new treatment beds. The state also modified its parole system and invested in diversionary programs. So instead of having an anticipated almost 18,000 new prisoners, policymakers actually shut down a prison last September. “Right now, our criminal justice system (is) one of the largest in the country … and we get pretty darn good reviews for not only being tough, but being smart,” Whitmire said. “I don’t think it matters which side you’re on when the net effect is, it’s working,” Madden said.
PRISON REFORM AUSTIN, TEXAS—Democrat Sen. John Whitmire, left, and Republican Rep. Jerry Madden have work ed together on Texas prison reform. © AP Photo/Harry Cabluck
