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
82 Alabama groups urge Ivey, legislators to fund public transportation using ARPA funds
Lawmakers should jump-start public transportation across Alabama with an allocation of $20 million from the state’s remaining federal COVID-19 relief money, according to a letter that 82 churches and organizations across the state sent Wednesday to Gov. Kay Ivey and legislators. Alabama Arise is among the groups that co-signed the letter. The organizations asked Gov. [...]
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New poll: Most Alabamians support plan to untax groceries, protect funding for public schools
Nearly three in five Alabamians (59.3%), including 56.1% of Republican voters, support legislation that would remove the state sales tax on groceries without cutting education funding, according to a new poll commissioned by Alabama Arise. Only 25.3% of respondents opposed the plan, with another 15.5% saying they were unsure or did not take a position. [...]
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New poll: More than 7 in 10 Alabamians support Medicaid expansion
More than seven in 10 Alabamians (71.5%), including 65.8% of Republican voters, support expanding Medicaid when told about arguments in support of the idea, according to a new poll commissioned by Alabama Arise. The poll also showed robust bipartisan support for using a portion of the state’s funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) [...]
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New poll: Alabamians strongly support use of ARPA funds to protect rural hospitals, increase mental health services
Alabama’s likely voters overwhelmingly support using federal COVID-19 relief funds to increase funding for mental health and rural hospitals, according to a new Alabama Arise poll released Monday. More than four in five respondents (81.1%) supported using a portion of Alabama’s funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to invest in rural hospitals and [...]
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Alabama Arise unveils members’ 2022 roadmap for change
Sentencing reform and voting rights expansion are two key goals on Alabama Arise’s 2022 legislative agenda. Members voted for Arise’s issue priorities this week after nearly 300 people attended the organization’s online annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were: Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and ending the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, [...]
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42 Alabama groups urge Ivey to drive transformative change with federal COVID-19 relief funds
Alabama should build a more equitable and inclusive future by using federal COVID-19 relief money for transformational investments in public health and economic opportunity, according to a letter that 42 churches and organizations across the state sent to Gov. Kay Ivey this week. Alabama Arise is among the groups that co-signed the letter. The American [...]
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New report profiles essential workers most likely to lack health coverage in Alabama
Medicaid expansion would increase access to life-saving health care while also advancing racial and gender equity in Alabama, according to a new report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF). Expansion also would ensure coverage for tens of thousands of essential workers in industries like health care, retail and construction. “Everyone in [...]
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Federal relief package will reduce Alabamians’ unmet health needs, hunger, housing instability and other hardships
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will reduce poverty while expanding health care, housing and nutrition protections across Alabama, according to analyses by Alabama Arise and other research organizations. President Joe Biden signed the new federal COVID-19 relief package into law Thursday. The law will slash poverty by expanding tax credits to struggling households [...]
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Policies to advance racial, gender equity key to Alabama workforce’s COVID-19 recovery, new Alabama Arise report shows
Alabama should rebuild from the COVID-19 recession by lifting policy barriers to economic opportunity and charting a path toward a more equitable and inclusive future, according to The State of Working Alabama 2021, a new report that Alabama Arise released Monday. Medicaid expansion and a state law guaranteeing paid sick leave both would help strengthen [...]
News Releases
69% of Alabama voters support Medicaid expansion, new poll finds
Sixty-nine percent of Alabamians, including 64% of Republican voters, support expanding Medicaid when told about arguments for and against the idea, according to a new poll that the Cover Alabama Coalition released Wednesday. The poll, conducted for Cover Alabama in January by Cygnal, shows support for Medicaid expansion across all demographics, including age, gender, income, [...]