Wisconsin Senate signs off on new State Patrol contract

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate signed off Wednesday on a new contract for the Wisconsin State Patrol, taking a critical step toward raising troopers’ salaries by 9.9% retroactively.

The deal is for 370 troopers and would boost starting salaries by $6,000 a year and adjust the pay scale for all troopers according to their years of service in an attempt to boost recruitment and retention. The deal is retroactive to the two-year period that ended in July 2019. Troopers will receive a lump-sum payment.

The agreement was reached after a previous deal, costing about twice as much, was rejected by Republican legislative leaders. Under that rejected plan, starting salaries would have increased by as much as 20%. Under the new deal, all troopers will get a 2% raise. It will also reduce when a trooper can qualify for top scale pay from 10 years to seven years.

The contract now goes to the Assembly, which was planning to give it final approval Thursday.