Pielli’s bill to incentivize National Guard enlistment is now law
Rep. Chris Pielli July 20, 2026 | 3:52 PM
HARRISBURG, July 20 – State Rep. Chris Pielli, D-Chester, announced today that his legislation to expand partial tuition reimbursements for enlistment in the National Guard has been signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The bill (H.B. 1102, now Act 30 of 2026) expands the partial tuition reimbursement program to cover enlistment in the National Guard by U.S. Army JAG officers and chaplains, as well as fine-tunes the current list of eligible medical or health officers. The incentive program will help address significant shortages in these fields and provide a tiered reimbursement structure based on educational attainment to offset the costs of the advanced academic credentials needed to serve in these roles.
Currently, the program has achieved notable success within the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, with some medical officer positions reaching 100% fill rates. However, the DMVA said the original program did not include other key medical and health officer positions, in addition to needed JAG officers and chaplains.
“Pennsylvania’s Medical Officer and Health Officer Incentive Program provides additional financial incentives for skilled medical professionals to enlist in the Pennsylvania National Guard. The program was launched nearly a decade ago and since then has proven to be a meaningful tool for bringing highly qualified health professionals into our National Guard,” Pielli said.
“Given that the cost of education and training in these fields has only increased, an expansion of the program to bring even more qualified people into our forces was needed. This new law will work even better to bolster recruitment to serve both our commonwealth’s interests and our national security. I was proud to work with state Sen. Hutchinson on this bill and thank my colleagues and Governor Shapiro for their support to keep our National Guard strong.”