The Joint Finance Committee voted unanimously [Tuesday] to give state prosecutors and public defenders a pay raise of $8.76 an hour — equal to $18,221 a year — as both fight vacancy rates that advocates say have led to slowdowns in the criminal justice system. The move also boosted starting pay for assistant public defenders and public defenders to $74,880, up from $56,659. Backers called the proposed investment historic, while Republicans noted it exceeds what Gov. Tony Evers proposed. His budget called for increasing pay by $7.76 an hour for prosecutors and public defenders.... In all, the package would increase funding for the district attorneys by $21.2 million and for public defenders by $36 million.It's a move that's long overdue, as there have been numerous news reports about the inability to both pay and keep prosecutors and public defenders, largely because the pay isn't close to keeping up with the big bucks in the private sector. It's also key in getting those positions staffed up so that cases can be pushed through the system, and that there is a shorter time period between arrest and trial. Which helps explain why Republicans would step up to spend even more tax dollars than Governor Evers wanted to. Another item Republicans have no problem spending tax dollars on? Police, including this part of the WisGOP Shared Revenue bill that may as well be called the Protecting Police Jobs Act.
Well at least the arrest quota part is gone, but it would be nice if Republicans felt like making investments in programs and infrastructure that would lessen the chances of crime happening in the first place, and lessen the need to spend all this money on policing. Or even allowing a community the fiscal ability the same, if they so choose. It's also interesting how WisGOPs are now "pay any price, impose any burden" when it comes to policing and the local court system, because as Dan Shafer of the Recombobulation Area points out, it is Republican policies that are a big reason behind this "crisis" that has prevented local governments from being able to maintain adequate funding for these responsibilites.Still lots of strings attached in GOP legislation. Local govts risk cut to all aid if they do not exert same amt of expenditure effort on law enforcement. But (illegal) arrest quotas and moving violation quotas are gone. Instead "effort" indicators are $ and # of officers
— Philip Rocco (@PhilipRocco) May 17, 2023
We're in this problem where shared revenue is broken because a certain political party did the breaking.
— Dan Shafer (@DanRShafer) May 17, 2023
Look at this chart. This shows that >250 Wisconsin municipalities cut their police budgets in 2018 and 2019 -- before 2020 and "defund." https://t.co/ihq2614lnz
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