Section 22C of the General Laws is hereby amending by adding the following new section:

Section XX. There is hereby reestablish a career incentive pay program offering base salary increases to regular full-time members of the state police department as an incentive for furthering the education of current officers and recruiting diverse candidates to the state police through future recruitment and the cadet program. This section shall not apply to officers currently receiving career incentive pay for educational degrees under any other program or law.

In order to rectify an equity issue on the State Police, the police career incentive base salary increases shall equal the already existing incentive and be predicated on the accumulation of points earned in the following manner: one point for each semester hour credit earned toward a baccalaureate or an associate degree; sixty points for an associate degree; one hundred and twenty points for a baccalaureate degree; and one hundred and fifty points for a degree of master or for a degree in law. All semester credits and degrees shall be earned in an accredited educational institution and shall be credited for the purpose of determining points under this section, notwithstanding the date of appointment of an individual to a position described in the first paragraph of this section. Only graduates of: (1) an accredited degree program offered by an institution of higher learning in order to ensure diverse educational backgrounds of current and future officers, or (2) accredited law schools shall be eligible for the police career incentive pay program.

Base salary increases authorized by this section shall be granted in the following manner: a ten percent increase for sixty points, a twenty percent increase for one hundred and twenty points, and a twenty-five percent increase for one hundred and fifty points so accumulated.