MONTGOMERY — Legislation that would change the makeup of the State Board of Veterans Affairs and how the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) commissioner is appointed passed the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs committee on Wednesday.
The legislation would change the ADVA commissioner's role to being appointed by the governor. Currently, the position is hired and fired by the State Board of Veterans Affairs. The State Board of Veterans Affairs would also be changed to an "advisory" role. Seven of the nine board members would be appointed by the governor. The House speaker and Senate pro-tem would also each get one board appointment. Gov. Kay Ivey endorsed the legislation in her State of the State address on Tuesday.
The bill passed out of committee by a 5-2 margin with one abstention.
Drew Harrell, Ivey’s legislative affairs director, told the committee the bill would “elevate” the ADVA director role to a cabinet position.
Harrell also said the bill would give ADVA “more direct accountability with the executive branch and legislators.”
“We think this is a chance to diversify the representation of the veteran community,” Harrell said.
State Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) abstained from voting.
“There are a number of things in here that I really like: the governor to have the clear authority to appoint the director, remove the director. It’s consistent with a bill I’ve advocated for for another public department and so I support that. I think reworking the way the board is set up is a good thing. I am very concerned about basically removing all the authority,” Givhan said at the meeting.
State Sens. Josh Carnley (R-Ino) and Keith Kelley (R-Anniston) both voted against the bill.
“I’ve just been talking to some of the folks back home in some of the (veteran service organizations) there’s just a little bit of concern like Sen. Givhan said with removing the authority of the board. It seems like they’d like to have a little bit of input into that to understand what the direction is,” Carnley said.
Kelley said, “I think there may be some work that needs to be done with communicating some things back and forth there because the veterans on the street a lot of them are very concerned and feel like they may be losing some touch in some areas.”
Former ADVA commissioner Kent Davis has said the bill is “retaliation” for his ethics complaint against a member of Ivey’s cabinet last year.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
