Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday passed a funding bill that includes a pay raise for public defenders as part of an effort to end a legal crisis that led to dozens of cases being dropped and defendants getting out of jail But hours before the vote,

So-called "bar advocates"  — private attorneys who take on the criminal cases of indigent defendants — have stopped accepting new cases for more than two months as they seek higher hourly rates. Lawmakers say they plan to increase wages by $20 per hour — less than the $35 per hour bar advocates are asking for.

A bill that gives attorneys a pay bump is heading to Gov. Healey to sign into law. On Thursday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate passed (S 2575), which would give attorneys taking on cases as a public defender for indigent people a $10 an hour pay raise with an additional $10 raise the following year.