Latest news with #AlabamaBoardofVeteransAffairs
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate passes Veterans Affairs board restructuring bill amid last-minute dispute
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, discusses a bill to reorganize the Alabama Board of Veterans Affairs in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 11, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The Alabama Senate passed SB 67 to restructure the Veterans Affairs board, despite bipartisan opposition to last-minute changes and calls for a delay. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would restructure the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs board amid disputes over late changes to the legislation. SB 67, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, passed 21-9 despite criticism from some Democratic and Republican senators, who opposed the introduction of a substitute bill and asked for the legislation to be delayed until Thursday so that senators could read it. 'I think it's very important that when [veterans] are involved, that they do have a chance to know exactly what we're voting on,' said Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, on the Senate floor. 'And since I've been here, I've always been very apprehensive about subs, especially when they come at the last minute.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Jones defended the decision to push forward with the bill after the legislation passed. '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. 'There's some folks, as part of the process, that are not going to be happy with any change whatsoever, and obviously some of those folks are vocal. But at the end of the day, we had a process.' The original bill would have cut the board membership from 17 members to nine. It was amended last week after talks with the veteran community to increase the board make-up to 15 members. Under the substitute adopted on Tuesday, the board would retain its current 17 members while the the governor would still appoint the commissioner. The substitute would also remove the board's ability to enact policies and rules on veterans' issues and give them an advisory role in the governor's office. 'We want to elevate the commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs to a cabinet-level position, someone that's fully in state government, an agency that's fully in state government, that has the full resources to bear state government,' Jones said. The legislation comes after Gov. Kay Ivey fired former Commissioner Kent Davis over a dispute regarding Davis' alleged handling of federal grants. Ivey demanded his resignation but Davis initially refused to step down. He then offered his resignation after meeting with the governor, but the Board of Veterans Affairs asked Davis to withdraw his resignation and voted to keep him, saying they found no wrongdoing, which led to his firing. An attorney for Davis has suggested he is considering pursuing legal action. Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, was in agreement with Figures, stating that he had only received the document minutes before the vote. 'This is an incredibly important piece of legislation for our veterans. I think they deserve the opportunity to look at this as well, and I know that I deserve the opportunity to look at it,' Elliott said. The bill now moves to the House. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama Senate delays vote on restructuring state veterans affairs board
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, discusses a bill to reorganize the Alabama Board of Veterans Affairs in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 11, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama Senate Tuesday heavily amended and then delayed a bill that would have restructured the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs board. Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, the sponsor of SB 67, asked to have the legislation carried over after it was amended nine times. 'We've heard a lot from our veteran's communities about what's important to them. I think it's best that we give folks some time to marinate on this, look at it, understand it,' Jones said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The bill came after Gov. Kay Ivey fired former Commissioner Kent Davis over a dispute regarding Davis' alleged handling of federal grants offered through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. Davis initially refused to step down after Ivey demanded his resignation, but he offered his resignation after meeting with the governor. The Board of Veterans Affairs then asked Davis to withdraw his resignation and voted to keep him, saying they found no wrongdoing, which led to his firing. An attorney for Davis has suggested he is considering pursue legal action. Jones said during the debate the main purpose of the bill would be elevating Veterans Affairs to a cabinet-level position. 'A lot of folks are still hung up on the sort of personality conflict that happened a few months ago,' he said. 'That's not in this bill at all. The main focus is focusing on veterans (and) meeting their needs.' The State Board of Veterans Affairs currently has 17 members. Jones' legislation would have initially shrunk it to nine, but after amendments, it was brought up to 15. The governor would appoint nine members, but two must be affiliated with the Alabama National Guard, one must be a woman and one must be a wartime veteran. The Speaker of the House would have an appointment that would be selected from a list of three names nominated by the largest veteran organization in Alabama and the Pro Tempore of the Senate would have an appointment that would be selected by the second largest veteran organization in the state. Another amendment was added to include two appointments by the lieutenant governor, one at-large and one from a list of three names nominated by the third largest organization. The organizations were not named. An amendment would require that at least five board members be veterans who served on active duty for a period of 60 days or more and have been honorably discharged. An appointing authority would have to give veteran organizations notice and would not be allowed to make an appointment without notice of 30 days. The organization would be able to provide three recommendations for consideration. Another amendment would allow the board to recommend up to three individuals to the governor for appointment as commissioner, though it doesn't have to be considered. It would also provide the commissioner's salary is set by the governor. Jones said he expects the bill to come back to the Senate floor next week. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
