Z-0457.1

SENATE BILL 5803

BySenators Conway, Boehnke, Dozier, Frame, Holy, Hunt, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, Lovick, MacEwen, Mullet, Nobles, Padden, Stanford, Wagoner, Warnick, and Wellman; by request of Military Department

AN ACT Relating to the recruitment and retention of Washington National Guard members; and adding new sections to chapter 38.24 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 38.24 RCW to read as follows:

(1) There is created the Washington national guard member referral incentive program. The purpose of the program is to incentivize and maximize peer-to-peer recruiting that results in a completed accession to the Washington national guard by providing a referral bonus to Washington national guard members who make a successful referral. Administration of this program requires that:

(a) A Washington national guard member may provide the identity and contact information of a person who the member believes would be an appropriate recruitment prospect using a form provided by the Washington national guard, which includes the person's name, contact information, and any other information required by the state military department.

(b) The state military department shall keep a record of all forms submitted under (a) of this subsection. Upon the completed accession of a referred person and to the extent sufficient funds are available, the state military department shall distribute a referral bonus to the member who provided the successful referral.

(2) Members of the Washington national guard serving in command or senior enlisted advisor positions, as well as those assigned recruiting as a primary or additional duty, are ineligible for the Washington national guard member referral incentive program.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Completed accession" means the referred person signs the referred person's name to an enlistment contract for entry or reentry after prior service into the Washington national guard;

(b) "Referral bonus" means a monetary payment set each calendar year by the adjutant general not to exceed $500.00;

(c) "Successful referral" means providing the identity and contact information in subsection (1)(a) of this section of any person not already a member of the Washington national guard that results in a completed accession to the Washington national guard.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 38.24 RCW to read as follows:

(1) There is created a national guard reenlistment bonus program.

(2) The adjutant general shall establish the program to provide a reenlistment bonus to eligible members of the national guard who extend their term of service in the Washington national guard. The bonus must be in an amount to generally encourage the member's enlistment for a term of not less than two years.

(3) Eligibility for the national guard reenlistment bonus program is limited to members of the Washington national guard who are:

(a) Serving satisfactorily as determined by the adjutant general; and

(b) Not eligible for any federal reenlistment bonus.

(4) The adjutant general may, within the limitations of this section and other applicable laws, determine additional eligibility criteria for the bonus, and must specify all of the criteria in policy and publish any changes.

(5) The bonus payments must be made on a schedule that is determined and published by the state military department.

(6) If a member fails to complete a term of the reenlistment for which the bonus was paid, the state military department may seek to recoup a prorated amount of the bonus.

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