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Subcommittee carries over HB 1752 to gather more information on Virginia National Guard enlistment referral funding
Summary
The House Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee temporarily carried over HB 1752 after members sought more information on a proposal to raise the Virginia National Guard referral enlistment program allocation from $50,000 to $250,000 per year. Presenters said the program has exhausted current funds and was paused for the fiscal year.
House Bill 1752, which would increase the Virginia National Guard referral enlistment program’s annual allocation from $50,000 to $250,000, was carried over temporarily after committee members requested more information.
Tony Maggio, the staff analyst who introduced the item, said the program aims to help close a 500-person manpower gap the Virginia National Guard described as necessary to maintain force structure and morale. Maggio called on staff to explain the bill to the subcommittee.
Alexis Boles Fryer, policy and legislative analyst for the Department of Military Affairs, told the committee the program has been used to exhaustion in recent fiscal years and has been paused for the current fiscal year. Fryer said, “It’s been a really, really, really good program,” and explained recent internal changes to the payment process: eligible citizen recruiters now receive a single $1,000 payment rather than split payments, which limits the program to about 50 new enlistments per fiscal year at the current payment level.
Fryer and Maggio provided enrollment figures for recent years: since the program’s introduction in 2023 the department reported 21 new enlistments in 2023 and 86 enlistments in 2024. The presenters said demand and administrative changes contributed to funds being exhausted for the current fiscal year.
Delegate Delian Austin moved to table the bill to gather further information; a committee member seconded the motion and the subcommittee took a voice vote. The chair announced the bill was carried over temporarily.
The subcommittee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript excerpted for this article. Committee members asked staff to supply additional details before the bill returns to the subcommittee.
A fuller fiscal and program report was requested to clarify how the proposed increase to $250,000 would translate into additional enlistments and to explain administrative changes affecting payout and enrollment counts.
