Louisiana lawmakers give judges up to 5 years of pay raises

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Judges could get pay raises for the next five years, under a bill that won final legislative passage.

The 2.5% raises for 372 judges under Kenner Republican Sen. Danny Martiny's bill will start with the new budget year on July 1.

Additional 2.5% raises would happen each new budget year through 2023 if the judiciary determines it has money in its budget developed by lawmakers to pay for them.

An 87-3 House vote sent the measure to the governor's desk.

The pay hikes will cost $1.8 million in the first year and could grow to $9.5 million by the fifth year if they are awarded annually. Louisiana's Supreme Court justices have agreed to cover the first year of the cost from an existing judicial surplus.