Budgets
Budgets are more than numbers on a page. They’re reflections of our state and national priorities, and of our willingness as a society to work together to make those goals a reality. Strong investments in vital public infrastructure like education, health care and child care can help remove barriers to opportunity for struggling Alabamians and promote shared prosperity for everyone in our state. Arise’s budget analysis examines the importance of investing in these services and protecting them from harmful, shortsighted cuts.
Featured Resources
Personal Stories
Postpartum Medicaid extension brings a glimmer of hope for new mothers in Alabama
This story originally appeared on AL.com. On Mother’s Day in 2014, I found out I was pregnant. For me, the existential dread set in just as deeply as the morning sickness. Motherhood and its crushing weight had been drilled into me my entire life. I told myself it was too hard, that I just wasn’t [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise, partners urge no disruption to summer food program in Alabama
The Summer Food Service Program has been a critical tool to fight child hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic. But many key program flexibilities will expire June 30 unless Alabama applies for a waiver. Alabama Arise and our partners in the Hunger-Free Alabama coalition wrote a letter Thursday to state school Superintendent Eric Mackey to urge [...]
Newsletter
March 2022 newsletter
Read about Arise’s work to untax groceries, expand health coverage and advance justice in Alabama. Then learn how you can join our movement!
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise testimony on ARPA funding priorities in Alabama
Alabama Arise’s Robyn Hyden testified Wednesday before a joint meeting of the House and Senate’s General Fund budget committees. She discussed Arise’s top priorities for lawmakers’ allocation of federal relief funds under the American Rescue Plan Act. Here’s the full text of Hyden’s prepared remarks: Good afternoon. My name is Robyn Hyden. I am the [...]
Resources
Alabama Arise toolkit on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provides $130 billion in federal funding directly to local governments. This level of aid will help communities across the country shape their recovery from the COVID-19 recession. ARPA is an unprecedented opportunity for local and state lawmakers in Alabama to invest equitably in an economic recovery that serves Alabamians [...]
Letters & Testimony
To strengthen the common good: Six principles for allocating Alabama’s ARPA funding
Introduction Dear Governor Ivey, One of the darkest years in recent memory has put Alabama’s families, communities, health system, businesses – and our leaders at all levels – to the test. Thank you for all your efforts to keep Alabamians safe and secure during this unprecedented emergency. Now that a post-COVID world is dawning, the [...]
Fact Sheet
Now is the time! Medicaid expansion talking points in Alabama
Timing On Thursday, March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, which will bring back federal funding for states to newly expand Medicaid. Thanks to this law, if Alabama expanded Medicaid, the state would get an estimated $940 million boost in federal Medicaid funds over two years. This is enough money to [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021
Introduction When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that have [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 1 – Introduction: The high cost of failing to protect the common good
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption. It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated. COVID-19 has laid bare deep racial and gender inequities in Alabama’s economy and social system that [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 3 – Assessing the damage: COVID-19 and Alabama’s labor market
Where are we now? The COVID-19 recession hit vulnerable Alabama workers hard and fast. Alabamians working in low-paying industries suffered immediate and severe job losses, which fell hardest on women and people of color. Unemployment insurance (UI), designed for just such a moment, was inadequate and insufficient to the needs of these workers because of [...]
