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Fact Sheet
4 reasons why a new state tax break for private school tuition would hurt public education in Alabama
Update: Arise members stopped this plan in its tracks! After lawmakers received hundreds of emails and phone calls from our supporters opposing this bill, the Senate amended HB 251 on March 14 to remove the language that would have created a tax break for private school tuition. The House agreed to the change on March [...]
Fact Sheet
Cigarette tax for Medicaid: A win-win to improve health and fill Alabama’s revenue gap
The future of Alabama Medicaid is on the line as lawmakers consider a threadbare 2017 General Fund budget. Without significant new revenue, Medicaid would not only lose the promising regional care organizations (RCOs) set to launch in October but also would cut vital services and doctor payments. Those cuts could place the Medicaid program itself [...]
Fact Sheet
6 things to know about the FICA deduction
The Alabama Legislature may consider removing the state FICA income tax deduction during 2015’s second special session. Without significant new General Fund revenue, the state may make enormous cuts to Medicaid, child care, public safety and other vital services. As lawmakers decide how to address the General Fund shortfall, here are six things to know about [...]
Fact Sheet
7 things to know about the cigarette tax
The Alabama Legislature is considering a cigarette tax increase during 2015’s second special session. Without significant new General Fund revenue, the state may make enormous cuts to Medicaid, child care, public safety and other vital services. As lawmakers decide how to address the General Fund shortfall, here are seven things to know about tobacco taxes.
Handbook
The Alabama Tax & Budget Handbook
We’re all in this together. All of us – regardless of age, health, wealth, background or location – depend on a network of services from our local, state and national governments. From garbage collection to fire protection, from roads to schools, from public health to public safety, our tax dollars support the daily upkeep of [...]
Fact Sheet
Out of step: Alabama’s unusual state tax system
Taxes are the tools that Americans use to pay for education, public health, transportation and other elements of the common good. But in Alabama, the tax system is upside down, with low- and middle-income people paying twice the share of their income in state and local taxes that the top 1 percent pay. This updated fact [...]
Fact Sheet
Earthquake on Goat Hill: How the Alabama Accountability Act passed and what it means
Alabama would provide income tax credits to help subsidize private or religious school tuition for parents of children zoned for "failing schools" beginning this fall if Gov. Robert Bentley signs the plan into law. The House and Senate approved the measure, known as the Alabama Accountability Act, mere hours after it was first introduced on Feb. [...]
Fact Sheet
Ending the state grocery tax and protecting schools
Alabama's tax system is upside down, and the state sales tax on groceries is one reason why. Alabama remains one of only two states -- the other is Mississippi -- with no tax break on groceries. Food costs consume a larger portion of the household budget for low-income families than for those who are better off, so [...]
Fact Sheet
A tax on survival: Grocery tax policies in America
Food takes a much bigger bite out of the household budget for low-income families than for richer ones, and sales taxes on groceries thus hit harder at lower incomes. In recognition of this fact, most states either have exempted groceries from state sales taxes entirely or have devised ways to help offset grocery taxes for low-income [...]
Fact Sheet
Teamwork for the common good
If you talk to a low-income Alabamian about the state's tax system, you're liable to hear two things. One is a boast that the state has some of the nation's lowest taxes. The other is a complaint that, nevertheless, the person pays too much in taxes. The statements may sound contradictory, but both are grounded in [...]