State Lawmaker Looks To Raise Minimum Wage For PA National Guard

HARRISBURG, PA — A state legislator from southeastern Pennsylvania has introduced legislation that would increase the minimum wage for members of the Pennsylvania National Guard when they are called to duty.

State Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat representing parts of Montgomery, Chester and Berks Counties, is the prime sponsor behind Senate Bill 1242, which seeks to raise the minimum daily special state duty and state active duty pay rate for Pennsylvania National Guard members from $100 per day to $180 per day.

The senator says the last time such a raise went into effect was back in 2016, when the rate jumped from $75 to $100.

Muth, who represents the 44th Senatorial District, said that Pennsylvania's National Guard is one of the largest and most highly skilled guards in the world, and that increasing the pay rate would go a long way toward helping members with a seemingly ever-increasing cost of living in the modern age.

"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," Muth said in a statement. "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."

Muth noted that Pennsylvania National Guard personnel are entitled to "special state duty" or "state active duty" pay whenever they are put in service by the governor for in-state community events, activities, missions, disasters or emergencies.

She said that breaking down the current rate of $100, guard members called into duty make a mere $8.33 per hour based on a typical 12-hour shift, and that increasing the rate to $180 would be the equivalent of making $15 per hour.

"Our National Guard provides invaluable critical assistance to our communities across the Commonwealth," Muth wrote in a sponsorship memorandum. "Whether it is in response to a natural disaster or an emergency staffing situation in our nursing homes, they are always ready to step up to get the job done for the greater good of Pennsylvanians."