TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to boost the pay of employees who work in the state’s troubled prison system.
Scott wants state legislators to spend nearly $46 million to increases the salaries of correctional officers and probation officers. The governor will include the proposal as part of his annual budget recommendations to the Florida Legislature.
Scott will propose increasing base pay for entry-level employees and for those in higher ranks. The bump will average about 8.5 percent for entry-level prison guards, a spokesman for Scott said.
The governor also wants to give a one-time $1,000 hiring bonus to those guards hired at prisons that have a job vacancy rate of 10 percent or higher.
Florida’s prison system has been troubled in recent years with job vacancies, turnover and violent incidents.
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