Big spending WI Republicans have again identified their favorite beneficiaries.
Themselves.
And their lawyers.
After years of institutional penny-pinching, GOP-run state legislature may approve a pay raise for overworked and under-appreciated public defenders
lifting from the nation's lowest rate to $70 per hour from the current $40.
But don't applaud the GOP legislators' 'generosity' too loudly, as they are paying private lawyers $500 per hour - - seven times what the new public defender rate may become - - for representation against challenges to the Republican lame-duck power grab engineered in Scott Walker's final days in office:
Note that the $500-per-hour rate approved by GOP legislators in an open-ended contract and far exceeds the $275-per-hour rate authorized for other lawyers whose pay is capped at $100,000 total while representing state Democratic officials in the lame-duck litigation
* And don't forget the 841,000 Wisconsin taxpayer dollars GOP legislators spent on big-time Chicago attorneys for representation against allegations that the WI GOP's 2012 gerrymander violated the Constitution. That case is likely to get a fresh review by the US Supreme Court.
Themselves.
And their lawyers.
After years of institutional penny-pinching, GOP-run state legislature may approve a pay raise for overworked and under-appreciated public defenders
lifting from the nation's lowest rate to $70 per hour from the current $40.
But don't applaud the GOP legislators' 'generosity' too loudly, as they are paying private lawyers $500 per hour - - seven times what the new public defender rate may become - - for representation against challenges to the Republican lame-duck power grab engineered in Scott Walker's final days in office:
Legislative leaders this week signed contracts with the national law firm Troutman Sanders to represent them in the two lawsuits. The lead attorney, former Wisconsin Solicitor General Misha Tseytlin, will charge $500 an hour. Other lawyers at the firm might charge less, but the contracts do not specify their rates.This GOP is not an isolated happenstance.
Note that the $500-per-hour rate approved by GOP legislators in an open-ended contract and far exceeds the $275-per-hour rate authorized for other lawyers whose pay is capped at $100,000 total while representing state Democratic officials in the lame-duck litigation
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| WI GOP State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald |