Senate approves changes giving Ivey more control of Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs

A heavily debated bill to change control of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs passed the state Senate today after what the sponsor said was an important compromise.

Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, brought out a new version of the bill, SB67, that he said was the result of feedback senators heard from veterans organizations.

Jones said the new version maintains the current structure of the State Board of Veterans Affairs, which has 17 slots filled by members who are nominated by veterans service organizations and appointed by the governor.

(There are five vacancies).

The original bill would have substantially changed the board.

The new version of the bill still includes one of the main points in the original. It would make the commissioner of the ADVA an appointee of the governor and part of the governor’s cabinet.

That’s a change from current law, under which the State Board of Veterans Affairs appoints the commissioner and other senior staff members, and sets policy.

“We want to elevate the commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs to a cabinet-level position,” Jones said. “Someone that’s fully in state government.

An agency that’s fully in state government that has the full resources to bear of state government.

“Someone that has the ear of the governor, has access to all the governor’s team and the cabinet as a cabinet official, him or herself. That’s essential to moving us forward and become the most veteran-friendly state in the United States.”

At a public hearing last week, leaders of veterans organizations spoke out against the original version of the bill, partly because they said they were not consulted about the changes.

“The changes (in the bill today) were I think a result of feedback that the senators received from their constituents,” Jones said. “The veterans community was happy with the structure as it was and all of those entities that it represented.

“Obviously with legislation, we don’t get everything we want, there’s some push and pull, give and take, and some folks call that sausage making. But I’m very happy with the product that we ended up with. Because ultimately, it’s going to elevate that commission, and it’s going to do more to shine a spotlight on Veterans Affairs.”

The bill follows a public disagreement last year between the State Board and Gov. Kay Ivey that came after a dispute between Ivey and former Commissioner Kent Davis.

Ivey asked the board to fire Davis, but the board declined to do so after hashing out the dispute in a meeting. Ivey, who is chair of the board, then overruled the board and cited her authority as governor in removing Davis.

Ivey supports the legislation and praised the Senate for passing it today.

The Senate had debated and amended the bill during a long discussion a week ago. Jones then moved to delay a vote on it to allow time for senators and the public to review the changes.

Today, several senators from both parties asked Jones to hold off on a vote because they had not had time to study the new version of the bill he brought out today.

But Jones pressed ahead to ask for a vote, and the bill passed 21-9.

“I knew we had the votes, and I’ve always had the philosophy that when you’ve got the votes, you go with it,” Jones said.

“I feel like there’s some folks as part of the process that are not going to be happy with any change whatsoever. Obviously some of those folks were vocal. But at the end of the day we had a process, folks were heard, input was given. A super majority, 21 of the senators, viewed that this was a bill that they could go back and support to their constituents.”

The bill moves to the House.