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.

Member Resources

Alabama Arise 2025 legislative priorities

More than 150 Alabama Arise member groups and more than 1,500 individual members choose our legislative priorities each year. This process ensures that Alabamians most impacted by poverty have a seat at the table. Below are the priorities that our members selected for 2025. For a PDF version of this document, click here or click [...]
Issues
Criminal Justice, Health, Public Transportation, Safety Net, Tax Reform, Voting Rights, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets
Date
October 23, 2024
Author
Alabama Arise
Resources

VIDEO: The path forward in Arise’s work to untax groceries

On Labor Day weekend in 2023, Alabama’s state grocery tax reduction finally became a reality. The 1-cent decline in the sales tax on food brought welcome news to Alabamians who are struggling to make ends meet. And it marked a milestone in Alabama Arise’s work to build a more just and equitable tax system for [...]
Issues
Budgets, Tax Reform, Other
Date
August 30, 2024
Author
Matt Okarmus
Fact Sheet

What are the benefits of a universal school breakfast program in Alabama?

Alabama should do more to equip schoolchildren and teachers for success. Our state consistently ranks among the bottom five states for educational outcomes. And one essential school supply missing from several Alabama schools would immensely improve said outcomes: universal school breakfast. Below are a few of the positive effects that universal school breakfast would have [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Other
Date
August 26, 2024
Author
LaTrell Clifford Wood
Fact Sheet

Universal school breakfast helps Alabama children learn and thrive

School breakfast helps kids learn: Children who start the day with breakfast learn better. They have better classroom participation and are less likely to skip school than kids who don’t get breakfast. But tight family budgets and stressful mornings mean many children arrive at school hungry. School breakfast can help fill this gap. School, bus [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Other
Date
August 26, 2024
Author
Carol Gundlach
Fact Sheet

CHOOSE Act will further hurt Alabama’s public schools

Many Alabamians think of public education as a natural part of growing up and of community life. Public schools are at the center of hundreds of communities across our state. And their calendars often set a rhythm for the flow of the year: football games in the fall, band concerts and theater productions in the [...]
Issues
Budgets, Other
Date
August 22, 2024
Author
Carol Gundlach
Fact Sheet

Summer EBT for 2025

A state appropriation for Summer EBT will ensure $40 in food benefits per summer month for more than 500,000 eligible Alabama children ages 5-17.   1 in 4 Alabama children are food insecure. Too many of our children don’t know where their next meal will come from. Because of systemic barriers to food access, a [...]
Issues
Safety Net, Budgets, Health
Date
August 1, 2024
Author
LaTrell Clifford Wood
Fact Sheet

Summer EBT for 2025

A $15 million appropriation for Summer EBT would reduce hunger by providing eligible Alabama children $40 per summer month for food. 1 in 4 Alabama children are food insecure. Hundreds of thousands of Alabama children don’t know where their next meal will come from. And a disproportionate amount of food insecure children come from communities [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Safety Net, Economic Opportunity
Date
April 2, 2024
Author
Alabama Arise
Fact Sheet

How can Alabama ensure Summer EBT for 2025?

Inspired by Pandemic EBT (P-EBT), Summer EBT provides $120 in SNAP benefits per categorically eligible child throughout the summer months.

Issues
Economic Opportunity, Budgets, Health, Safety Net
Date
March 11, 2024
Author
LaTrell Clifford Wood
Newsletter

June 2023 newsletter

The June 2023 newsletter features a recap of the 2023 Alabama legislative session as well as coverage from our Legislative Day.

Issues
Health, Housing, Tax Reform, Voting Rights, Medicaid Expansion, Budgets, Criminal Justice
Date
June 28, 2023
Author
Matt Okarmus
Fact Sheet

How will the grocery tax reduction law (HB 479) benefit every Alabamian?

HB 479 by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, is a grocery tax reduction law that will benefit every Alabamian. Gov. Kay Ivey signed it into law June 15 after it passed the House 103-0 and the Senate 31-0. Below is a look at the principles that make a grocery tax reform bill good, what the new [...]
Issues
Budgets, Tax Reform
Date
May 24, 2023
Author
Alabama Arise
All Issue Resources