Alabama
After Ivey fired Alabama Veterans Affairs commissioner lawmakers may give her control of department
State lawmakers are considering a bill to put the governor in charge of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, taking that authority from an appointed state board made up of members of veterans’ organizations.
Under current law, the State Board of Veterans Affairs oversees the ADVA and hires the commissioner to run the agency.
A bill pending in the House and Senate would reduce the board to an advisory role and would make the commissioner an appointee of the governor and member of the governor’s cabinet, serving at the pleasure of the governor.
The bill comes a few months after Gov. Kay Ivey overruled the State Board of Veterans Affairs and fired ADVA Commissioner Kent Davis in a dispute that played out publicly over a couple of months.
Ivey supports the bill and mentioned it during her State of the State address Tuesday night.
“The goal is to have a Board that is a team player within the executive branch and can fiercely and effectively advocate for the unique needs of veterans of every generation – and their families,” Ivey said.
Davis said the bill is in retaliation for the dispute with the governor and the State Board’s refusal to fire him at her request. Davis said veterans’ organizations have not had a say on the bill and said it would be an abrupt change to how the ADVA has operated since 1945.
“I think it’s a terrible idea,” said Davis, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who lead the ADVA from 2019 until he was removed by the governor in October.
“That’s a pretty darn drastic change from an 80-year tradition, all of a sudden. And the timing is really interesting.”
Read more: Why did Kay Ivey fire Kent Davis? $7 million grant dispute, leaked ethics complaint led to executive order
Rep. Ed Oliver, R-Dadeville, who is the sponsor of the legislation in the House, said the bill is not retaliatory but is intended to improve the ADVA and services for veterans.
“Everybody has made this about personalities and a fight with the governor,” said Oliver, who was a helicopter pilot in the Army and served from 1979 to 2010.
“And that’s just so unfortunate. Because the people that are involved with this project are all trying to do their very best to create a first-rate, Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs that is more responsive and offers better and more services for veterans.”
Oliver said he is a member of the American Legion and two other veterans organizations, but said less than 20% of the 400,000 veterans in Alabama belong to veterans organizations.
Oliver said the changes in the bill would make the agency more streamlined and more accountable to taxpayers.
The State Board of Veterans Affairs currently has 12 members. The governor serves as chair by virtue of office. The other 11 members are nominated by veterans service organizations and appointed by the governor.
Under Oliver’s bill, the board would have nine members, with seven appointed by the governor, one by the House speaker, and one by the president pro tem of the Senate.
The bill says board appointees will include veterans from various branches of the armed forces, members and non-members of veterans organizations, and representatives of other entities that serve veterans and their families.
Oliver’s bill will be discussed in a public hearing Wednesday in the House Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Davis said he has heard from veterans organizations who oppose the bill.
Robert “Frank” Burrow, an Army veteran who is president of the South Alabama Veterans Council, posted a letter on the council’s website saying that putting the SDVA under the governor’s control would be a mistake.
“The independence of the Commissioner and the board allows for continuity in policies and programs, preventing the disruption of services that can occur when leadership changes due to political appointments,” Barrow wrote.
“If the board is heavily influenced by political interests, there is a risk that veterans’ needs may become secondary to partisan agendas and/or budgetary considerations. Decisions should be based on expertise, data, and the lived experiences of veterans rather than shifting political priorities.”
Oliver said the ADVA, as a taxpayer funded agency, cannot be independent of politics and oversight by elected officials.
As for changing the longstanding governance structure of the ADVA, Oliver said the agency is now much larger than it was decades ago, with responsibility for five state veterans homes and veterans service offices across the state.
“It’s a big job,” Oliver said. “It deserves to be elevated to a cabinet-level position. Frankly I don’t understand why people distrust the people that are outside the veteran community so much.”
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, is sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, which has won committee approval.
Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, said there is a good chance the Senate will consider the bill next week.
On Thursday, the Senate passed another bill by Jones that would create the Alabama Veterans Resource Center to help veterans and their families with accessing federal and state benefits, career counseling and job placement, mental health and wellness programs, and education and training opportunities.
The center would be a public corporation that could work with the private sector to provide the services.
Oliver, who is also sponsoring that bill in the House, said the idea is to create a one-stop shop to direct veterans where they can get help.
The Senate passed the Alabama Veterans Resource Center bill by a vote of 31-0 on Thursday. Republican and Democratic senators are co-sponsors.
A special guest of Ivey during her State of the State address was Jae Barclay of Huntsville, who was badly burned from a land mine explosion while serving with the Army in Afghanistan.
The injuries came on Barclay’s first wedding anniversary and seven days before the birth of his daughter. The governor said Barclay had overcome unimaginable obstacles.
“It is because of brave veterans like Jae that we can all live the American dream,” Ivey said during the speech.
On Friday, Gina Maiola, communications director for Ivey, declined to respond to Davis’ comments about the bill that makes the commissioner an appointee of the governor.
Maiola said the governor’s office has heard from many veterans supporting the change.
“Governor Ivey believes that we must continue working to do all we can for our veterans, and elevating the agency to the Governor’s Cabinet is certainly a positive step forward,“ Maiola said. “The Board – with this legislation – would also better represent Alabama’s veterans of all eras, generations and branches.”
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
Alabama
New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten
The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.
The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.
“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”
Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.
Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.
“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”
A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.
“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”
The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.
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