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Committee reviews transformation bills to reorganize Veterans Affairs and create Department of Health; members press oversight and technical fixes
Summary
Lawmakers examined HB 1071 (Veterans Affairs) and HB 1072 (Department of Health consolidation), discussing staff transfers, changes to duties and oversight, the health information exchange, and board authority; sponsors said most language is existing law moved into a transformation framework and promised technical corrections in a consolidated draft.
Lawmakers spent the bulk of a Dec. 6 committee meeting reviewing large "transformation" bills designed to reorganize multiple agencies: HB 1071 (Department of Veterans Affairs changes) and HB 1072 (creating or consolidating a Department of Health and moving boards and functions under that cabinet-level agency).
Amy Fettcher, chief transformation officer for the governor, and State Representative Andy Davis appeared to summarize the measures and explain the administrative intent: to move certain staff and functions into cabinet-level departments and to align code sections so similar functions sit together. Fettcher described HB 1071 as shifting three staff members into the cabinet-level veterans department, updating language to reflect two veterans homes (Fayetteville and North Little Rock), and replacing director titles with "secretary"…
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