ROYERSFORD, PA — State Sen. Katie Muth (D-Chester/Montgomery/Berks) on Friday introduced legislation that would increase the minimum daily pay for state active duty Pennsylvania National Guard personnel.
Senate Bill 1242 would increase the minimum daily special state duty and state active duty pay rate for members of the National Guard from the current $100 per day rate to $180 per day.
“Our National Guard is one of the largest and most highly-skilled guards in the entire world and they provide invaluable critical assistance to our communities across the Commonwealth,” Muth said. “The current minimum pay rate of $100 per day has not been updated in six years and it is entirely inadequate as we have seen the cost-of-living skyrocket and disaster incidents that require National Guard assistance multiply. It is time that the General Assembly recognizes their service to our Commonwealth and enacts a long-overdue and much-needed increase to the minimum state active duty pay for National Guard personnel.”
Pennsylvania National Guard personnel are entitled to “special state duty” or “state active duty” pay whenever they are ordered on active duty for service by the Governor for in-state community events, activities, missions or disasters and emergencies. The last time the legislature enacted an increase to the minimum state active duty pay was in 2016, when it was increased from $75 to $100.
Muth noted that based on a typical 12-hour shift, National Guard personnel are making $8.33 per hour at the current $100 per day rate. Increasing state active duty pay to a minimum of $180 per day would increase the hourly rate based on a 12-hour shift to at least $15 per hour.
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