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The Alabama Senate on Tuesday spent about 90 minutes discussing and amending, but not passing, a bill that would bring the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs under the governor and strip away some power of the current board that oversees it.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Andrew Jones and Greg Albritton, was ultimately carried over in order to “give members an opportunity to digest” the nine amendments and changes made during Tuesday’s discussions. The bill is expected to return to the Senate floor next week.
All nine of the amendments were accepted as “friendly,” with most addressing adding or placing a requirement on seats to the ADVA board. All of the amendments passed without opposition.
In fact, there was little, if any, apparent opposition to the bill – a bit of a surprise given the controversial situation from which it was born and the fact that it originates from the governor’s office. Gov. Kay Ivey has pushed for the change after her very public clash and firing of former Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis.
Ivey attempted to fire Davis despite the ADVA, which has state authority to hire and fire the commissioner, voting to keep Davis employed. Ivey ultimately used “supreme executive power” to fire Davis – a move that Davis and his attorney have indicated they will challenge in court.
Regardless, the fact that Ivey didn’t have authority under state law to fire the commissioner prompted Jones’ legislation, which would make the commissioner a cabinet position serving at the pleasure of the governor.
Jones’ bill also would have reduced the number of ADVA board seats from 17 to 9. But after the many amendments on Tuesday, that number had swelled to 15.
Jones has pushed back on the notion that the bill is all about the Davis-Ivey clash, and said instead that the bill is about providing better service to Alabama’s veterans. The ADVA has offices in 60 counties and operates five veterans homes around the state.
