Plan will ensure timely pay for Michigan National Guard members

State Rep. Kathy Schmaltz this week led testimony on her plan to modernize how members of the Michigan National Guard are paid when they are activated for state duty, helping ensure service members receive their pay quickly and reliably when they answer the call to serve.

Her plan, House Bill 5715, would make sure the state provides Michigan National Guard service members with payment by direct deposit or electronic transfer starting with their first pay period during any duty status.

Under the current process, Guard members activated by the state must receive their first paycheck as a paper check before they are allowed to enroll in direct deposit. This outdated requirement creates avoidable administrative complications.

“When our National Guard members are activated to serve during emergencies, they’re often away from home for days or weeks at a time,” Schmaltz said. “It simply doesn’t make sense that their first paycheck could be sitting in a mailbox while they’re out serving our state and unable to cash it. This plan fixes that problem by allowing direct deposit right away, ensuring the men and women who step up to protect our communities can count on receiving their pay quickly and securely.”

House Bill 5715 eliminates the mandatory first paper paycheck requirement and instead allows service members to receive pay electronically from the start of their activation.

Schmaltz, chair of the House Families and Veterans Committee, testified in support of the plan during a committee hearing alongside T.J. Pierce, executive director of the National Guard Association of Michigan.

Pierce said the paper check process has been an issue for many years. He highlighted the problems it caused during Operation Cold as Ice, the response to the severe ice storms that devastated northern Michigan in March 2025.

“After the governor’s state of emergency declaration, the Michigan National Guard responded within hours with approximately 900 soldiers and airmen leaving their families and civilian employers behind in order to take care of our fellow Michiganders,” Pierce said. “Unlike most states, Michigan still utilizes handwritten forms and requires layers of unnecessary manual processing of personal and financial information for state active-duty missions. This creates an environment where human error is prevalent and does not allow for any type of efficiency in responding to personnel changes on the ground.

“Many soldiers and airmen did not receive their pay for their service for months after the mission was completed; some of them up to seven months after their duty had been performed. Paper checks are then mailed to their home of record, which can be hours away from where they are actually conducting their mission. They must still perform their duty while their families are left to figure out solutions on how to pay their rent, mortgage, utilities and groceries. This puts an enormous strain on the men and women that wear the uniform in our state and their families.”

HB 5715 remains under consideration in the House Families and Veterans Committee.

“I’m incredibly grateful for the men and women of our National Guard who step up without hesitation when Michigan needs them most,” Schmaltz said. “They shouldn’t have to worry about when or how they’ll be paid while they’re serving, and I’m committed to getting this fixed for them.”