MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Public defenders would get a pay increase but not as much as Gov. Scott Walker proposed under a vote by the Legislature’s budget committee. The Joint Finance Committee voted Wednesday to approve a nearly $2 an hour increase in pay for district attorneys, in line with what Walker proposed. That amounts to about $4,100 a year. But public defenders would see just a 1.83 percent salary increase in each of the next two years. Walker has asked for a 2 percent increase annually, the same as what state employees and judges are slated to get. District attorneys and public defenders have complained about the ability to recruit and retain attorneys based on their current salaries. The committee is working on revising the budget which must also pass the full Legislature and be approved by Walker before becoming law.
