Wisconsin prison guards to get 14% bump in starting pay under Republican plan
Patrick Marley
MADISON - Starting wages for Wisconsin prison guards would go up by more than 14% over two years — from $16.65 an hour to $19 an hour — under a plan Republicans on the Legislature's budget committee adopted Tuesday.
More senior officers would also get raises of $2.35 an hour by 2021 as part of an effort to fight long-running worker shortages at prisons.
Most other state employees would get 2% raises in each of the next two years, as Democratic Gov. Tony Evers recommended.
For pay at the Department of Corrections, Republicans went further than what Evers proposed. The governor had wanted to increase starting wages to $18.22 an hour.
"It's a major investment," said Rep. Mark Born, a Beaver Dam Republican who sits on the Joint Finance Committee. "This is an important step toward addressing staffing shortages."
Matthew Fochs, a sergeant at Redgranite Correctional Institution, scoffed at that idea, saying the raise would do little to help recruit and retain workers. He said a 14% bump isn't as good as it sounds because it would take two years to materialize and existing wages are "crappy."
"This is a slap in the face," he said. "This is going to be nowhere near — nowhere near — where it needed to be."
Democrats contended lawmakers hadn't done enough to address a worker shortage that strained the state Department of Corrections during years Republicans controlled all of state government.
"You created this crisis," Democratic Rep. Chris Taylor of Madison told Republicans on the committee.
Related:Explore Department of Corrections salaries
RELATED:Gov. Tony Evers' administration gives $5-an-hour raises to officers at six Wisconsin prisons
The committee folded the pay proposals into the state budget with an 11-4 vote, with all Republicans in support of them and all Democrats against them.
GOP leaders hope to have the Senate and Assembly approve the budget in June. From there, it will go to Evers for final approval. He has broad powers to rewrite the budget by vetoing individual words and provisions.
As part of the GOP plan, prison workers would get bonuses when they hit their 10-year work anniversaries and other milestones. They would get $250 after 10 years, $500 after 15 years, $750 after 20 years and $1,000 after 25 years (and every five years after that).
Outside the budget deliberations, the Evers administration recently gave temporary $5 hourly raises to officers and sergeants at prisons with the worst staffing shortages.
That has sparked a backlash from workers at other prisons — as well as GOP lawmakers — who say the arrangement is unfair and shortsighted. Born described it as "foolishness."
The temporary $5 raises are to be in effect until at least June 2020. Those getting the temporary bumps in pay would not see other raises under the Republican plan until after the temporary raises expire.
The wage increases and bonuses at the Department of Corrections would cost taxpayers $36.8 million over the next two years. That's $13 million more than Evers' plan.
The plans for raises for other state employees would cost $83.3 million over two years.
Tourism. The committee voted 11-4 on party lines to increase spending by $1.6 million over two years on marketing the state for tourism. Evers had sought $5 million.
Mental health. On an 11-4 vote along party lines, the committee agreed to spend an additional $1.2 million a year on a program started under former Gov. Scott Walker that provides services to offenders with serious mental health problems who have been released from prison.
The program, now available in 44 counties, would be expanded to 51 counties under the GOP plan. Evers wanted to increase funding by $3.9 million a year to make it available in all the state's 72 counties.
Funding for Allouez. Under one plan adopted Tuesday, the state would give up to $60,000 a year to Allouez to cover that village's costs for sending police to investigate incidents at Green Bay Correctional Institution.
Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.