Florida aims to bolster National Guard with incentive program
- Nationwide, enlistment for the National Guard has hit a 20-year low
- Florida’s National Guard fell about 9K troops short of its recruitment goal
- The program would provide up to $500 to troops who refer new recruits
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 02: Florida Army National Guard members unload supplies from a helicopter on October 02, 2022 in Pine Island, Florida. Residents of the island are being encouraged to leave because the only road onto the island is impassable and electricity and water remain knocked out after Hurricane Ian passed through the area. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Lawmakers in Florida are aiming to help the state’s National Guard bring in more troops, part of a national trend that pays people who recruit potential enlistees.
House Bill 723 would provide $250 to “recruiting assistants” for each new member referred to the National Guard, and then another $250 when a recruit actually enlists.
It’s an attempt to bulk up Florida’s National Guard, which fell about 9,000 troops short of its recruitment goal last fiscal year. According to a state analysis, the Florida National Guard is among the smallest in the nation per capita.
State Rep. Dan Daley, the Coral Springs Democrat who sponsored the bill, said during a committee hearing, “This program would create an incentive-based program for existing members and retired members of the National Guard to incentivize their introduction of new members to the National Guard.”
Florida is not alone. States like Alabama, Delaware, Vermont and Virginia offer similar recruiting incentives. In fact, Vermont pays $500 for every recruit and $1000 if they’re qualified.
Virginians can get a finder’s fee of up to $750 through the bonus referral program.
And you might ask — why are several states offering these incentives? Recruitment numbers across the country have declined for the National Guard in recent years, and enlistment is now at a 20-year-low.
“It just keeps compounding to where you have a smaller and smaller pool of people to target to join the military,” Col. Trenton Twedt of the Iowa National Guard previously told NewsNation.
And it’s not just finder’s fees, either. Some states offer people who enlist a signing bonus, such as Iowa, where the bonus is $20,000.
