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Poverty in Alabama has many structural causes and symptoms. Arise has worked hard for decades to identify these challenges and propose policy solutions to them. We believe strongly that better public policy is the key to reducing and eliminating poverty, and that belief fuels our research on a whole range of issues facing our state.
Featured Resources
Fact Sheet
A dire need for reform: How Alabama’s constitution is holding our state back
The 1901 Alabama Constitution is overreaching, poorly written and harmful to many of the people it governs. Its authors intentionally disenfranchised people of color, women and people with low incomes in an effort to silence them politically. The document also created barriers to governance for local elected officials. More than a century later, these barriers [...]
Member Resources
We still make change: Advocating in Alabama in the time of COVID-19
The voices and needs of people matter. And engaging those voices in the policymaking process is key to building the better, more inclusive Alabama that we envision. Alabama Arise remains committed to informing and equipping our members to influence policies that affect their lives and communities. As we look toward the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 regular [...]
Fact Sheet
How to get involved in Alabama’s legislative process
Most people recognize the vital role that voting plays in a democracy – even if they don’t vote. But fewer understand the citizen’s role in lawmaking. Using your power as a constituent to influence legislators is called lobbying. Alabama Arise promotes its interest – the well-being of Alabamians with low and moderate incomes – not [...]
Member Resources
2020 Alabama Arise issue priorities brochure
Alabama Arise members have chosen the following issues as policy priorities for 2020. The first two are permanent priorities. The remaining five reflect this year’s member voting. The Arise board also may approve action on other emerging issues during the year. To view our full 2020 issue priorities brochure, click here or click the Download [...]
Member Resources
2019 Alabama Arise issue priorities brochure
Arise members have chosen the following issues as policy priorities for 2019. The first two are permanent priorities. The remaining five reflect this year’s member voting. The Arise board also may approve action on other emerging issues during the year. Adequate state budgets Tax reform Public transportation Payday/title lending reform Automatic universal voter registration Criminal [...]
Fact Sheet
Private planning: The forces behind your power bill
People don’t have a choice about whether to buy electricity. Quite simply, it’s one of the things we’ve got to have to survive in the modern world. Your only real choice is how much you use – and even that amount can’t reasonably go below a certain threshold.
Fact Sheet
Hidden power: The story behind your electric bill
For most of us, the monthly electric bill is a fact of life. Though its share of the household budget rises and falls with consumption, electricity ranks with water, food and shelter as an essential expense. Meeting this demand in homes and businesses across Alabama requires production and distribution on an enormous scale. Because of [...]
Fact Sheet
Public Utility Regulation Without the Public
There has not been a public rate case for the Alabama Power Company (“Alabama Power” or “the Company”) in 30 years. Instead, the Alabama Public Service Commission (“PSC” or “the Commission”) has a regulatory process that allows Alabama Power to adjust its charges each year without any public evidentiary hearings and, indeed, without any participation [...]
Fact Sheet
Alabama bound: Our unjust 1901 constitution
Advocates for a new Alabama constitution have been divided for decades over how best to achieve that goal. Some have wanted to hold a convention at which elected delegates would craft a new constitution all at once, subject to voter approval. Others have favored a gradual, article-by-article rewrite. A recent development may render the debate moot, at [...]
