News Releases
Public policy barriers prevent far too many Alabamians from getting ahead. Our duty is to speak out against those barriers and identify solutions to give everyone an opportunity to reach their full potential. Check out our news releases and press statements about our research, organizing and advocacy for policies to make life better for Alabamians who are struggling to make ends meet.
News Releases
Alabama Arise unveils 2024 roadmap for change in Alabama
Expanding Medicaid and ending the state sales tax on groceries will remain top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2024 legislative agenda. The group also will pursue a multifaceted approach to improving maternal and infant health in Alabama. More than 500 members voted to determine Arise’s legislative priorities in recent days after the organization’s annual meeting Saturday. [...]
News Releases
New report: Medicaid expansion would improve maternal health in Alabama
Medicaid expansion would improve women’s health and expand access to maternal health care across Alabama, a new Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF) report found. Expansion also would help reduce racial disparities, improve infants’ health and strengthen rural health care access, the report found. Nearly one in six Alabama women (15.9%) of reproductive [...]
News Releases
Grocery tax reduction bill’s passage is a win for every Alabamian
The Alabama Senate voted 31-0 Thursday to pass HB 479, a bill to reduce the state sales tax on groceries beginning Sept. 1. The bill now goes to Gov. Kay Ivey. Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Thursday in response: “Reducing the state sales tax on groceries will provide meaningful help [...]
News Releases
This is the moment: It’s time for Alabama to untax groceries
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, filed legislation Thursday to reduce Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries. Jones’ SB 257 is co-sponsored by all 35 state senators. Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Friday in response: “Alabama Arise is thrilled to see widespread, bipartisan support from every senator for reducing the state sales [...]
News Releases
Alabama Arise members urge support for plan to untax groceries, protect funding for public schools
[caption id="attachment_7937" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery, speaks in support of untaxing groceries during Arise's Legislative Day on April 11, 2023, in Montgomery.[/caption] Alabama should embrace the opportunity this year to remove the state sales tax on groceries in a sustainable and meaningful way, Alabama Arise Action members told lawmakers Tuesday. More than 100 [...]
News Releases
Advocates visit Alabama lawmakers to urge support for Medicaid expansion
[caption id="attachment_7830" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Alabama Arise board member Kenneth King speaks at Cover Alabama's advocacy event outside the State House in Montgomery on March 21, 2023. King shared his story of living in Alabama's health coverage gap and urged lawmakers to support Medicaid expansion.[/caption] More than 80 Alabamians gathered outside the State House in Montgomery [...]
News Releases
Alabama’s death penalty system still in need of reforms to end injustices
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Friday in response to Gov. Kay Ivey’s announcement that an internal review of executions in Alabama has ended: “All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. Unfortunately, the Department of Corrections’ internal review of the state’s execution process did not resolve many of the injustices [...]
News Releases
Death penalty moratorium is a chance to end injustices in Alabama’s capital punishment system
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Monday in response to Gov. Kay Ivey’s request for a pause on executions in Alabama: “All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. Gov. Kay Ivey’s call for a temporary halt to executions is a welcome and necessary move toward ending many of the injustices [...]
News Releases
Public transit, healthy food access among key pathways to increase economic opportunity in Birmingham area, new report finds
Greater Birmingham has experienced a resurgence in economic growth and civic engagement in recent years. But the benefits of this prosperity are not widely shared among everyone living in the region – and a new comprehensive report that Alabama Arise and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) released Thursday shows that people across Jefferson County [...]
News Releases
52 Alabama groups urge Shelby, Tuberville to support Child Tax Credit, EITC improvements this year
U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby and Tommy Tuberville should support expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in year-end budget legislation, 52 organizations across Alabama wrote in a letter sent to the senators Tuesday. Alabama Arise is among the groups that signed the letter. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) temporarily [...]
