Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey arrives at an event at the Alabama State Capitol on March 21, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. Lawmakers Thursday announced a legislative package called “Working for Alabama,” aimed at increasing the state’s workforce participation rate. Gov. Kay Ivey said she would seek the immediate removal of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis, citing mishandling of ARPA funds and board manipulation.(Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
Gov. Kay Ivey Friday said she would move for the “immediate removal” of Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis amid clashes between the governor’s office and the State Board of Veterans Affairs over his performance.
In a letter to Davis sent on Friday, Ivey said she would call a special meeting of the board on Tuesday and call for Davis’ removal on several grounds, including allegedly mishandling federal grant money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and “manipulation of the board.”
“You and your agency have failed, or appear to have failed, to cooperate with other state executive branch, state legislatures, members of our state’s congressional delegation, and my office,” Ivey said, adding that “general lack of cooperation” violates his duty under Alabama law.
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Messages seeking comment were left Friday morning with the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs.
Ivey demanded Davis’ resignation in September after accusing him of delays in allocating the ARPA money that she said threatened the state’s ability to spend that money.
In a Sept. 5 letter, Ivey accused Davis failing to present applications for ARPA grants in a timely manner and of taking “actions to produce strife and conflict with my office, with other state executive-branch agencies, with state legislators, and with members of our congressional delegation.”
The governor’s office also accused Davis of not presenting grant applications for mental health applications funded through ARPA until January, just months before a June 1 deadline, which, she said, raised questions from other department heads about compliance and proper fund use.
The Alabama Department of Mental Health (ADMH) terminated a contract with Veterans’ Affairs in part due to these concerns. The Alabama Department of Finance later contacted Veterans Affairs with concerns about the grants, some of which the department said had little to no connection with veterans’ mental health.
Davis later filed an ethics complaint against ADMH Commissioner Kim Boswell, accusing her and other department heads of conspiring to prevent Veterans Affairs from receiving the ARPA money. The Alabama Ethics Commission dismissed the complaint in August.
The commissioner initially refused to resign, saying the department had been “transparent” in the use of funds and did not jeopardize the state’s access to them. Ivey then called a meeting of the veterans board to remove Davis. Before the meeting took place, Davis met with Ivey and agreed to resign at the end of the year.
The State Board of Veterans Affairs asked Davis to withdraw his resignation on October 10 after a subcommittee found no wrongdoing with the $7 million that the Veterans Department had been allocated from the ARPA. Ivey on Friday alleged that Davis manipulated the board, citing a letter from Vice Chairman Scott Gedling accusing Davis of putting pressure on board members to act “in service of [Davis’] personal interests.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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