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Date Submitted February 24, 2026
Submitted by: Tracy A Stephens
In March 2025 Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into Law SB67 (Senate Bill 67) that was introduced by Alabama State Senator Andrew Jones that represents District 10 which includes Cherokee, DeKalb and Etowah Counties and is also the Chair of the Alabama State Senate Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Safety. As originally written it would require the Governor, rather than the State Board of Veterans Affairs, to appoint the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs to serve at the Governor’s pleasure and it would also revise the membership of the board and provide that the board serves in an advisory capacity and to transfer certain duties from the board to the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs. There are many throughout the state that feel the making of the Commissioner to be a cabinet-level position that will serve at the pleasure of the Governor that this could possibly lead to “POLITICAL FAVORS” being made between the Governor and whomever they may wish to appoint as the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner.
After SB67 was first introduced in February 2025 Alabama Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth announced his opposition to it. Within hours after it was introduced, I, as a Veteran myself and a Veteran Advocate, began receiving Text and Facebook Messages from Veterans all across the state that strongly opposed it. That opposition continues in February 2026, as a matter of fact according to a reliable source of mine it seems as if some of the State Legislators, both Democrat and Republican, that voted for it now are having regrets and would be in favor of an effort to repeal it. There are almost 400,000 Veterans that live in Alabama and an unknown number of those who support the Veteran Community in Alabama. Combined that quickly adds up to a large base of the voting public in the state that can have a very strong voice!
If you are a Veteran or one of those who support the Veteran Community and are a registered voter in Alabama, before the 2026 Election I urge you to contact your State Senators and State Representatives in Montgomery, this includes those that may be running for reelection and those that may be a new Candidate, and strongly but politely request that they REPEAL SB67 and return the appointing of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner back to the State Board of Veterans Affairs to keep even the hint of “POLITICAL FAVORS” being made between the Governor and whomever they may wish to appoint to that position of ever happening.
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