Jul. 05, 2019
HARRISBURG – Rep. Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon) today announced that Gov. Tom Wolf has signed into law his bill to equalize the pay received by members of the Pennsylvania National Guard to that which is received by their U.S. military counterparts.
“This is tremendous news for our National Guard troops and a parity that has been a long time coming,” Ryan said. “The Senate and governor are to be commended for helping us get this done.”
Ryan’s new law requires that pay for deputy adjutant generals and general officers in command positions permanently employed by the Commonwealth be equivalent to the federal military base pay. In addition to specifying the eligibility requirements and conditions for the pay increase, this new law also determines how the cost-of-living adjustment is to be calculated.
“The reason this is important is because the Pennsylvania National Guard adjutant general and uniformed deputy adjutant generals earn significantly less than their active duty counterparts, though they maintain the same military standards and comparable senior executive responsibilities,” Ryan said.
Ryan, a retired Marine Corp Reserves’ colonel, pointed out that relevant professionals are needed as many of the top candidates are unable to take large pay cuts to serve in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
“This language in this bill is important because it helps close a very distressful chapter in our nation’s history in which National Guard and reserve forces were not treated with parity to their active-duty counterparts,” Ryan said. “Due to the total force concept currently in place, Reserve and National Guard forces are an integral part of our nation’s military forces and have served with distinction since the founding of our nation.”
Representative Frank Ryan
101st Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Charles Lardner
717.260.6443
clardner@pahousegop.com
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