On Thursday, State Sen. Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) announced State Sen. Keith Kelley (R-Anniston) as the new co-chairman of Alabama’s Joint Legislative Sunset Committee.
Gudger said he had “full confidence in his colleague’s ability to ensure state boards operate in an honest and accountable fashion.”
The Sunset Committee is comprised of members of the House and Senate who oversee the finances and actions of the various occupational and industry licensing boards. The committee began a series of meetings scrutinizing various boards on Thursday. Decisions by the committee in recent years have resulted in boards being combined with or significantly altered by other boards.
“After running fast and loose for far too long, the state’s occupational boards, agencies, and commissions have been placed under an intense microscope by the Joint Sunset Committee over the past few years, and serious issues have been discovered in many of them,” Gudger said. “Sen. Keith Kelley is fully committed to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse where it exists, demanding a strong dose of accountability, and keeping the heat on those who think they can game the system.”
On the day Kelley assumed his position as co-chair, the committee began requiring individuals appearing before it to take a sworn oath similar to those given to witnesses in court proceedings.
The action was taken after it was discovered that some individuals testifying before the committee had provided false, misleading, and incorrect information regarding the finances, procedures, and problems within their agencies, according to Gudger.
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