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Arise 2020: Break down barriers to voting rights in Alabama
Voting is an essential tool for people to speak out about the future they want. By breaking down barriers to voting, we promote greater civic engagement. And we make it easier for folks to make their voices heard about issues that matter in their communities. Alabama’s sad history of racist voting restrictions means our state [...]
Fact Sheet
The new poll tax: Court debt and voting rights in Alabama
Everyone should be able to have a voice in governmental decisions that affect their daily lives. Voting is the most straightforward way Alabamians have to shape those decisions. But our state has a long, sad legacy of voter suppression tactics. As a result, Alabama today has more disenfranchised citizens than California, a state with eight [...]
News Releases
Alabama Arise members vow to renew ‘untax groceries’ push in 2020
Ending the state sales tax on groceries is one of the top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2020 legislative agenda. Nearly 200 Arise members picked the organization’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday in Montgomery. The seven issues chosen were: Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and ending the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, [...]
Blog
Learn more about Arise’s 2020 issue proposals
Grassroots democracy will be on display when Alabama Arise members choose our 2020 issue priorities at our annual meeting Sept. 7 in Montgomery. The following proposals will be up for a vote for our 2020 legislative agenda. Housing Trust Fund revenue Voting rights Criminal justice debt reform Death penalty reform Payday and title lending reform [...]
Blog
The 2019 session that was, and the one yet to come
Alabama legislators ended their 2019 regular session last week. But they’re not done yet. Amid the threat of federal intervention, the Legislature likely will hold a special session this fall to address horrendous conditions in our state’s overcrowded prisons. This summer, Arise will continue making the case that meaningful prison reform must include Medicaid expansion. [...]
Blog
Arise legislative recap: May 3, 2019
Protecting the right to vote is essential to ensure everyone's voice is heard. Arise's Dev Wakeley discusses several bills introduced this session that would strengthen voting rights for all Alabamians.
Blog
Voting rights bills would bring Alabama closer to full participation
Every eligible citizen should be able to vote, with no unnecessary barriers blocking the exercise of that fundamental right. But Alabama has an unusually troubled history of shameful voter suppression. And the Legislature has been reluctant to implement changes to help bring our state’s voting practices up to modern standards. This year, Alabama has an [...]
Fact Sheet
Automatic voter registration: Streamlining a basic right
Voting rights are a flashpoint in Alabama’s history. The long denial of those rights to African Americans led to Bloody Sunday in Selma, the march to Montgomery and eventually passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In the half-century since, our state has taken a few steps that increase voting access for communities of [...]
News Releases
Medicaid expansion, end to grocery tax highlight Alabama Arise’s 2019 priorities
Medicaid expansion and legislation to end the state sales tax on groceries are among the top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2019 legislative agenda. More than 200 Arise members picked the organization’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Montgomery. The seven issues chosen were: Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and closing [...]
Blog
Medicaid cuts loom, payday reform falls just short as Alabama Legislature ends 2016 regular session
The Alabama Legislature’s 2016 regular session, which ended Wednesday, was more notable in many ways for what didn’t happen than for what did. Lawmakers did not agree on a revenue solution to prevent devastating Medicaid cuts that would reduce health care access for hundreds of thousands of children, seniors, and people with disabilities in Alabama. Despite enormous [...]