House approves pay raises for police, firefighters

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A $1,500 pay raise for police, firefighters and other law enforcement officers received swift and easy approval Thursday from the full House of Representatives, one of the first bills to get House passage in the legislative session.

The pay raises will cost the state as much as $40 million a year, according to financial estimates of the bill, sponsored by Rep. John Alario, D-Westwego, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

The state gives sheriff’s deputies, local police, firefighters and other first responders a “supplemental pay” of $300 per month on top of their regular salaries. Alario’s bill would bump that supplement up to $425 per month.

It also urges the state’s civil service office to give the pay raise to wildlife and fisheries officers, corrections officers and university police. That would push its cost to $40 million annually.

The House agreed to the law enforcement pay raise in a unanimous vote with no debate. The money for the measure will have to be appropriated in next year’s budget bill, for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The pay raise bill goes next to the Senate for debate, where it is expected to win widespread support. Gov. Kathleen Blanco also supports the legislation.

The measure is the first in a series of pay raise proposals before the Legislature this session. Pay raises for teachers, state employees, school support workers, university faculty and others are contained in Blanco’s budget proposal for next year, and other bills contain pay raises for local tax assessors, statewide elected officials and lawmakers.

The session must end by June 28.

House Bill 4 can be found at http://www.legis.state.la.us