(The Center Square) – The Republicans who are writing Wisconsin’s new state budget have finally agreed to spend more on at least one thing.
The budget-writing Joint Finance Committee on Tuesday approved a plan that would raise the starting salary for prosecutors and defense attorneys to about $75,000 a-year.
“A few months ago Dodge County, at least for several days, was without a prosecutor,” Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, told reporters Tuesday. “We know that was an example of a statewide problem in our criminal justice system and we are making some serious, historic investments to address that issue.”
Under the plan from the JFC, prosecutors and defense attorneys will get an extra $8.76 an-hour, which takes their starting pay to $36 an-hour. Born said veteran prosecutors would also get a pay bump.
Fond du Lac County D.A. Eric Toney, who is also the head of the Wisconsin District Attorney’s Association said raising the starting salary will help counties across the state find and keep attorneys, rather than lose them to higher paying jobs elsewhere.
“There’s no doubt in my mind this is going to be a transformational budget,” Toney said.
Wisconsin’s Public Defender, Kelly Thompson, said the same thing.
“Being able to recruit and retain the attorneys and staff necessary to ensure the constitutional rights that are protected, is a core responsibility of state government,” Thompson added.
The State Bar of Wisconsin warned back in January of a looming constitutional crisis because of low pay for prosecutors and defense attorneys.
The Bar said at the time that deciding about higher pay is a “defining moment” for Wisconsin.
“This is about victims that are waiting too long for justice. This is about those accused of a crime that are incarcerated without the ability to defend their constitutional right to receive a fair and speedy trial. This is about our hard-working state employees who are reporting emotional exhaustion and work stressors that impact their personal lives,” the Bar said in its January statement.
Born said the Republican pay raise plan is larger than what Gov. Evers proposed in his budget plan.
The JFC continues to craft the new state budget. It is due to Gov. Evers by the end of next month.
This article First appeared in the center square