Committee adopts amendment to Senate Bill 146 to change Veterans Trust Fund oversight and audit cadence

The House Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committee adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 146 and moved the amended bill to the House floor for consideration.

The amendment, described in committee as both technical and substantive, would recalibrate membership of the Veterans Trust Fund board and change the audit cadence from every two years to every three years. Committee members said the change was developed with the Motor Vehicle Administration and the auditor general’s office and that the administration had been included in discussions.

“This amendment, primarily technical in nature, but it has some really substantive elements to it. It would recalibrate the board, and it would additionally, with regard to audits, move from a 2 to a 3 year audit,” said Chairman Gillan during the committee discussion, calling out staff work and stakeholder input.

Committee members discussed solvency and oversight for the Veterans Trust Fund during debate. One member said the changes are meant to provide “awareness and accountability” and to bring more subject-matter experts into oversight roles so programs funded by the Trust Fund are working for veterans. The committee also said discussions were ongoing to ensure the audit provisions align with what the auditor general can perform in a timely fashion.

Chairman Gillan’s amendment (amendment 01849) was adopted by the committee. With the amendment adopted, the committee reported Senate Bill 146, as amended, to the House floor for consideration.

The committee did not record a roll-call vote on the amendment or on the motion to report the bill in the committee transcript; the chair announced no negative votes when adopting the amendment and when reporting the bill.

What’s next: The bill will be considered by the full House; committee members signaled continued work on audit details and oversight provisions while advancing the measure.