Wisconsin legislative leaders on Wednesday stripped more than 26,000 state employees of 2 percent pay raises they had been promised, froze their salaries for two years and moved to increase their health insurance premiums.
The Joint Committee on Employment Relations voted 8-0 for the measures affecting 7,000 nonunion state employees and elected officials and 19,500 University of Wisconsin System faculty and staff members. The cutbacks, which are final and don’t need approval from the full Legislature, are meant to help close an expected $6.6 billion budget shortfall.