Topeka ? An audit released Tuesday found that relationships between the Kansas Commission on Veterans Affairs and veterans service groups are strained, prompting lawmakers to tell the state agency to make some changes.

“After speaking with the commission staff and some veterans service organization staff, we concluded that the relationship exists between them – especially at the leadership level – could be characterized more as adversarial than cooperative in nature,” auditors concluded.

Rep. Tom Burroughs, a Kansas City Democrat, expressed concern that the ongoing sour relations could cause problems for veterans, who rely on the commission for help getting their benefits.

“We need to send a strong message that there needs to be a more cooperative working relationship, that veterans know that we care about the care they are receiving,” Burroughs said.

Commission Executive Director George Webb acknowledged that relations between the agency and such groups as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion have been tense since 2005. That’s when the state ethics commission found problems with an employment agreement for veterans commission employees who helped veterans file federal claims for cash aid and medical services.

The state ethics commission said the arrangement violated conflict-of-interest laws, and lawmakers sought to change it. The organizations were concerned that Webb wasn’t supporting them in the legislative process, and their relationships with the state agency haven’t improved since.

Webb, who is leaving his post after more than four years, said the commission would seek to improve relations. “It’s a two-way street,” he said, adding that his door was always open to veterans groups, but few have come talk with him directly during his tenure.

It wasn’t the first time legislators have shown concern about the veterans commission. During the 2008 session, funding for the agency was stripped from initial budget bills over worries about relations with veterans organizations and the commission’s operations.

Eventually, legislators restored the commission’s $22 million funding and added more money to expand outreach programs.