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Alabama Arise’s administrative advocacy: Big wins in the policy margins
Unlike legislative advocacy, administrative advocacy is an aspect of Alabama Arise’s work we don’t talk about often. Yet that’s where some of our biggest policy wins happen. State agencies and leaders can accomplish some important policy changes via rule changes. Sometimes legislators pass policies with good intentions, but administrative barriers and red tape stop them [...]
Resources
The State of Working Alabama 2021: What policy barriers should Alabama remove on this Labor Day?
It’s Labor Day weekend. The days are ever so slightly cooler. Football season has started. And Alabama’s economy is officially “open for business.” So why are so many jobs still going unfilled in our state? Why are employers looking for workers and not finding them? A look at some very interesting data can provide a [...]
Blog
Special session(s) ahead in Alabama? How Arise is preparing
Alabama Arise’s work for equity, justice and opportunity persisted after the Legislature’s regular session ended. We’ll renew our commitment to those principles when Arise members choose 2022 issue priorities after the Sept. 25 annual meeting. And we’ll keep up the drumbeat when lawmakers return later this year for one or more expected special sessions. Alabama’s [...]
Blog
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) in Alabama: What you need to know
The COVID-19 pandemic, its recession and increased food costs have created a second, quieter epidemic: hunger. This hunger epidemic has hit schoolchildren the hardest as school closures cost them not only classroom time, but also the school breakfasts and lunches upon which they relied. During the pandemic’s early stage, 13% of Alabama families with children [...]
Blog
Community eligibility offers an enduring path to food security for Alabama schoolchildren
At least one in four children experience hunger in Alabama ‒ a terrible reality even before the onslaught of COVID-19. Many gaps already existed in policies surrounding fair access to food and nutrition in our state. And the pandemic abruptly reminded policymakers of the importance of maintaining fortified safety net systems. State agencies swiftly stepped [...]
Blog
Good news for Alabama families: The expanded Child Tax Credit is here!
Monthly payments from the newly enhanced federal Child Tax Credit begin today, marking a historic breakthrough in fighting child poverty. The payments are part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which will help reduce child poverty in the United States by more than 40%. How does the expanded credit work? ARPA boosted the maximum [...]
News Releases
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 [...]
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 [...]
Blog
Federal relief funds could transform Alabama’s future
How often have we gotten to say that it’s raining money in Alabama? That’s the image that comes to mind as the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed in March, begins to direct more than $4 billion in new federal funds into the state over the next three years. The funding could help Alabama make [...]
Blog
Arise advances justice in a pandemic session
Advocacy barriers for Alabama Arise members were extraordinarily high during the Legislature’s 2021 regular session. The COVID-19 pandemic limited physical access to the State House and made a difficult policy landscape even rockier. But Arise members were undeterred. They spoke out forcefully and repeatedly for justice and opportunity. And the result was real, meaningful progress [...]