JROTC POWER Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9403 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9403

 To require the Secretary of Defense to update guidance for the Junior
   Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program to evaluate the
effects of the JROTC instructor pay scale on recruitment and retention.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2026

Ms. Escobar (for herself and Mr. Alford) introduced the following bill;
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require the Secretary of Defense to update guidance for the Junior
   Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program to evaluate the
effects of the JROTC instructor pay scale on recruitment and retention.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Junior Reserve Officers' Training
Corps Pay Oversight for Workforce Evaluation and Retention Act'' or the
``JROTC POWER Act''.

SEC. 2. UPDATE OF GUIDANCE AND EVALUATION OF JUNIOR RESERVE OFFICERS'
              TRAINING CORPS INSTRUCTOR PAY SCALE.

    (a) Update of Guidance.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination
with the Secretaries concerned (as that term is defined in section
101(a)(9) of title 10, United States Code), shall update Department of
Defense guidance governing the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
(JROTC) program to include--
            (1) an evaluation plan to assess the effects of the JROTC
        Standardized Instructor Pay Scale (JSIPS), or any successor pay
        system, on recruitment and retention of JROTC instructors; and
            (2) standardized metrics for measuring JROTC instructor
        recruiting outcomes and retention rates across the military
        services.
    (b) Required Metrics.--The evaluation plan required under
subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, metrics relating to--
            (1) instructor vacancy rates and time-to-hire;
            (2) retention rates and length of service;
            (3) geographic variation in recruiting and retention
        outcomes, including high-cost-of-living areas, rural, urban,
        and geographically isolated locations;
            (4) comparisons between outcomes under the legacy pay
        system and the JSIPS;
            (5) the identification of recruiting efforts used to
        attract instructor applicants, including data on how applicants
        learned about available instructor positions;
            (6) the number of applicants who begin, complete, or
        withdraw from the instructor hiring process, including the
        interview and background investigation stages;
            (7) the number of applicants who accept or decline
        instructor position offers, including to the extent
        practicable, information on the reasons offers were declined;
        and
            (8) any other matters the Secretary determines appropriate.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the issuance
of the updated guidance under subsection (a), and annually thereafter
for two years, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee
on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of
the House of Representatives a report that includes--
            (1) a description of the updated guidance and
        implementation status;
            (2) baseline data and metrics collected using the metrics
        developed under subsection (a);
            (3) an assessment of the effects of the pay scale on
        recruitment and retention; and
            (4) any recommendations for legislative or administrative
        action.
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