Two consultants hired to advise the Wisconsin Supreme Court in selecting new legislative maps could be paid up to $100,000 each under the terms of their contracts.
Dr. Bernard Grofman at the University of California, Irvine and Dr. Jonathan Cervas at Carnegie Mellon University will each be paid $450 an hour for their work.
“Obviously that’s a lot of money, but it’s probably the going rate. And also, their their work is critical to our democracy,” said Governor Tony Evers. “They are going to be advising the Supreme Court, and that will determine whether we have competitive districts or not.”
The cap includes expenses for items such as meals and mileage. The contracts include a provision allowing the Director of State courts to agree to reasonable amendments to modify the maximum payout if needed. Costs will be covered by parties in the redistricting lawsuit as determined by the court in a future order.
The contracts for Grofman and Cervas were signed and posted to the state Supreme Court’s website this week.