By Alabama Public Radio
Montgomery, AL – A state Senate budget committee voted unanimously Thursday for legislation that would boost the pay of state troopers and corporals by ten percent. Sergeants and lieutenants would get a seven-point-five percent raise, and captains and higher ranks by five percent. Neil Tew, the president of the Alabama State Trooper Association, says the pay raise is needed because the starting pay in Alabama trails most Southeastern states, as well as many sheriffs' departments and city police departments within Alabama. The bill now goes to the Senate. Its sponsor, state Senator Hinton Mitchem, predicts it will pass easily because two-thirds of the Senate is co-sponsoring the bill.