Kushner and Cornyn to tour Texas prison in support of reforms

President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner is hitting the road Friday with Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) to promote a prison reform bill that seeks to incentivize prisoners to complete programs that reduce recidivism.

Cornyn and Kushner are traveling to Texas to tour the Seagoville Federal Correctional Institution outside Dallas, a spokeswoman for Cornyn told The Hill.

“They will also receive briefings on how the prison prepares inmates to successfully reenter the community as well as their residential drug treatment program,” she said.

{mosads}According to Cornyn’s office, the duo will also be joined by Mark Inch, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and hear from Texas-based recidivism reduction groups, tour the prison and visit with inmates before holding a press conference.

The legislation they are touting is a revision of the Corrections Act Cornyn previously offered. Known as First Step, the bipartisan bill allows prisoners to earn time credits for completing prison programs like education and job training. Inmates can then use those credits to serve the remaining days of their sentence in a halfway house or home confinement.

The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to send its companion bill to the House floor.

The legislation, which provides the Bureau of Prisons with $50 million annually for five years for prison programming, has divided Democrats and liberal groups. 

Opponents of the measure are pushing for a more comprehensive criminal justice bill that includes reductions to mandatory minimum sentences.

Conservatives, however, have been able to get more Democratic support over the last few weeks by including language that creates more opportunities for prisoners to earn time credits, limiting the use of restraints on pregnant women and requiring prison guards to receive de-escalation training.