STATE PATROL OFFICERS MAY NOT ESCAPE CUTS

Doyle's Budget Calls For Abolishing 34 Jobs, Hundreds More In DOT

Madison - Gov. Jim Doyle's budget cuts would abolish the jobs of 34 State
Patrol troopers and truck inspectors, a proposal that is taking some
legislators by surprise.

Doyle's budget would reduce the number of sworn patrol officers from 518 to
484, and also abolish 20 of the 187 full-time jobs of civilians who work as
dispatchers and in other jobs that support the patrol.

"It depends where he takes it from," Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer
(R-West Bend) said of Doyle's budget cuts, noting that troopers and truck
inspectors work out of seven regional districts. "If he arbitrarily takes
it from one area, it won't fly."

Randy Romanski, executive assistant in the state Transportation Department,
said officials expect that no sworn officers would be laid off, but the 34
jobs could be abolished through normal attrition. A total of 300 jobs would
be abolished in the Transportation Department under the governor's budget,
Romanski noted.

The Democratic governor's budget also would cancel all Training Academy
classes for new troopers next year, because there would be no jobs for its
graduates, and stop catching speeders by plane, which would save $180,100
next year.

Ten of the 518 jobs for sworn officers - 400 authorized troopers and 118
truck inspectors - are already vacant, Romanski said. The proposed jobs
cuts are the State Patrol's "contribution" to fixing the $3.2 billion
budget deficit, he added.

David Collins, State Patrol superintendent, said remaining troopers would
be reallocated as needed, depending on patrol and highway emergency needs.

"We're very good at shifting and adjusting," he said. "We often do that,
day to day. We are very well trained."

Romanski said it was "too early" to say what effect eliminating the 34
sworn officer jobs would have on motorists, who rely on troopers to help
keep highways safe, respond to accidents and warn them of emergencies, and
on truck inspectors to catch unsafe and overloaded rigs.

In addition to catching speeders, troopers also have played an increasing
role in searching vehicles for drugs, confiscating drugs and making
drug-related arrests.

Motorists "will be safe," Collins said. But measuring the effect of
abolishing the 34 jobs is a "hard question," he added.

The reduction in State Patrol staffing is part of Doyle's proposed 2003-'05
budget, which must pass the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Two state Assembly leaders, Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo) and Rep. Dean
Kaufert (R-Neenah) said they were not aware that the governor's budget
would abolish the 34 jobs of officers.

Asked whether he could support eliminating those jobs, Gard said: "I'm not
prepared to endorse cutting the State Patrol that deeply."

He noted that Wisconsin had a record number of traffic fatalities in 2002.

Kaufert, who is co-chairman of the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee,
said State Patrol officers who once did little but stop speeders and
drunken drivers now do much more, including reconstructing accident scenes,
stopping drug-carrying vehicles and assisting local deputies and police in
emergencies.

"I consider them a valued part of the law enforcement community," said
Kaufert, the son of a police officer who said he has ridden along with
troopers to learn about their duties.

In the past, lobbyists for sheriff's departments and patrol officers have
fought over how much authority troopers should have and whether to increase
the patrol's 400-officer authorized strength, which is set by state law.

Kaufert said he did not know if he would support abolishing the 34 sworn
officer jobs, saying he would wait to talk to administrators of the agency
to see what effect the cuts would have on its law enforcement activities.