Blog
Public policy should make life better for everyone, not just a select few. Throughout the year, Arise tracks a range of state and federal policy proposals and assesses what they would mean for Alabamians who are struggling to make ends meet. Our blog provides quick updates on these proposals and offers tips on what you can do to help build an Alabama where all people have an opportunity to reach their full potential.
Blog
Fresh opportunities to push for a better Alabama
The Alabama Legislature will welcome 37 new lawmakers to its halls when its 2023 regular session begins March 7. Alabama Arise sees this as an opportunity to educate new legislators and identify new allies on issues of importance to our members. We urge folks to join us in calling for change, including at Arise Legislative [...]
Blog
Budget priorities for the people
Two weeks before the Alabama Legislature’s 2023 regular session, lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates packed into the State House in late February for the annual joint legislative budget hearings. One might call it the Super Bowl for budget nerds. After years of scarcity, both Alabama budgets are starting out with a revenue surplus. There’s $351 million [...]
Blog
A membership base that looks like Alabama
At Alabama Arise, people are our power. As a member, you are part of a network that drives our shared vision of a state where all people have resources to reach their potential. Collectively, you vote on our policy priorities, stay informed through our Daily News Digest and legislative updates, and advocate for fair public [...]
Blog
How Alabama can protect health coverage during the Medicaid ‘unwinding’ period
In 2020, we watched as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. Many of us searched for toilet paper, stocked up on groceries and spent a lot of quality time in our homes as we sheltered in place. But the world did not change only in our daily lives. This public health emergency (PHE) also led [...]
Blog
End of emergency SNAP allotments will increase hunger in Alabama
For many of us, the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly all of normal life. Businesses closed, either temporarily or permanently. People lost jobs and income. Children were not attending school in person. And millions of Americans were suddenly facing an unexpected problem: hunger. Temporary increases to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits [...]
Fact Sheet
The workforce benefits of Medicaid expansion in Alabama
For nearly a decade, Alabama has been outside looking in on a good deal. While hundreds of thousands of Alabamians continue to struggle without health insurance, state leaders have failed to expand Medicaid. A few loud voices have politicized an issue that never should have been political. And our state has paid the price in [...]
Blog
Highlights from Cover Alabama’s health fair in Fort Payne
Cover Alabama and Alabama Arise hosted a health fair and a panel on Medicaid expansion in Fort Payne in November 2022. Hear from Arise's Cover Alabama campaign director Debbie Smith and other community members about why we held the health fair and why Medicaid expansion would save and improve lives in DeKalb County and across [...]
Blog
Vote ‘Yes’ on Alabama’s recompiled state constitution!
We're less than a week away from the general election! One of the most important issues on the ballot in Alabama is the Constitution of Alabama of 2022. This recompilation of the current constitution would clean up and consolidate the document and delete racist language and illegal provisions. In a new video, Arise policy analyst [...]
Blog
Learn about Hunger Free Alabama
Alabama Arise is proud to have joined with groups across the state as partners in the Hunger Free Alabama coalition. Our goal is bold and essential: to prevent and eliminate hunger and malnutrition in Alabama through advocacy for better public policies. In our new video, coalition members Drew Glover and Celsa Allende Stallworth discuss Hunger [...]
Blog
Congress should make the Child Tax Credit expansion permanent
Good public policy is vital in the fight against poverty, and U.S. Census data released last month demonstrates its importance. The 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion is uplifting proof of how better policies can reduce poverty and ease suffering. And Congress needs to renew this expansion when it returns to Washington, D.C., after the [...]