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JROTC POWER Act

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.

Introduced Mar 26, 2026

Latest action (Mar 26, 2026) Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Referred to
Armed Services Committee
Policy area
Armed Forces and National Security
Issues
Defense

Summary

This bill requires the Secretary of Defense to update guidance for the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program to evaluate how the JROTC instructor pay scale affects recruitment and retention of instructors. The updated guidance must include a detailed evaluation plan and standardized metrics to measure instructor recruitment outcomes, retention rates, hiring timelines, and geographic variations across military services and different geographic areas. The Secretary must submit reports to Congress annually for three years describing the guidance implementation, baseline data collected, the pay scale's effects on recruitment and retention, and any recommendations for legislative or administrative action.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor

Actions (2)
  1. Mar 26, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. · senate
  2. Mar 26, 2026 Introduced in Senate

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 9403 — JROTC POWER Act · Introduced Jun 23, 2026 · Cong. 119 92%
  • HR 6340 — Save the Green to Gold Program Act · Introduced Dec 1, 2025 · Cong. 119 60%
  • HR 8925 — Job Corps and Skilled Defense Workforce Act · Introduced May 20, 2026 · Cong. 119 60%
  • HR 5425 — Servicemember Retention and Education Advancement Act · Introduced Sep 17, 2025 · Cong. 119 60%
  • HR 8724 — Providing Resources and Oversight for Tactical Equipment to Communities and Troops Act · Introduced May 11, 2026 · Cong. 119 57%
  • HR 6382 — Return on Investment for Military Occupational Specialties Act · Introduced Dec 3, 2025 · Cong. 119 56%

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

March 26, 2026

Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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. <all>

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