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Fact Sheet

The basics: WIC saves lives, prevents malnutrition

Congress established WIC in the 1970s to try to reduce disturbingly high infant death rates, and the program has been a success story ever since. Infant mortality rates in Alabama and nationwide have fallen by nearly two-thirds since the creation of the program officially known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. [...]
Issue
Safety Net
Date
August 15, 2014
Author
Carol Gundlach
Fact Sheet

The basics: Alabama’s meager but vital TANF program

The cost of living has increased in the last two decades, but federal money for temporary cash aid for very low-income families has not kept up. The federal government in 1997 froze its allocations for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, informally known as welfare. Since then, the number of families receiving benefits has [...]
Issue
Safety Net
Date
July 10, 2014
Author
Carol Gundlach
Annual Report

Annual Report 2014

You have a vision for a better Alabama for all – and you’re not alone. Across the state and across the country, thousands of you have banded together – as individuals, as members of your churches or community groups – to work toward a more inclusive Alabama. We all share a goal: a state where everyone [...]
Date
June 30, 2014
Author
Alabama Arise
Fact Sheet

The basics: Child nutrition programs in Alabama

Many hungry children miss out on far more than regular meals. Hunger can do serious, long-term harm to a child's health and ability to learn, and childhood hunger is a bigger challenge in Alabama than in most other states. More than one in four of the state's children live in families with incomes below the poverty [...]
Issue
Safety Net
Date
June 10, 2014
Author
Carol Gundlach
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 [...]
Issue
Tax Reform
Date
April 22, 2014
Author
Chris Sanders
Blog

General Fund budget, changes to Alabama’s landlord-tenant law enacted

Next year’s General Fund (GF) budget became law Thursday night when the Alabama House ended the 2014 regular session without considering Gov. Robert Bentley’s proposed amendment to it. Bentley’s changes to the $1.8 billion GF budget were enacted automatically when the House adjourned. Check out AL.com’s report to learn more about Thursday’s action. Bentley still must decide [...]
Issues
Budgets, Health, Housing
Date
April 4, 2014
Author
Chris Sanders
Blog

Alabama Legislature OKs new requirements for TANF recipients, doesn’t end lifetime SNAP, TANF bans for people with felony drug conviction

People convicted of a drug-related felony will remain ineligible for food assistance or cash welfare benefits in Alabama after the state House adjourned Thursday night without passing a bill to end the state’s lifetime eligibility bans for them. Lawmakers approved several other bills related to public benefits this week, including a requirement for some applicants [...]
Issues
Criminal Justice, Safety Net
Date
April 3, 2014
Author
Chris Sanders
Blog

Alabama Legislature passes ETF budget, goes home without approving bills on payday lending, execution drug secrecy

Alabama lawmakers passed a $5.9 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget without a pay raise for K-12 teachers just before the 2014 regular session ended Thursday night. The House voted 54-45 to agree to the compromise budget that the Senate approved Tuesday. That leaves Gov. Robert Bentley, who urged the Legislature to approve a 2 percent [...]
Issues
Budgets, Criminal Justice, Health, Payday & Title Lending Reform, Safety Net, Tax Reform
Date
April 3, 2014
Author
Chris Sanders
Blog

Bill to end lifetime SNAP, TANF bans still alive but loses procedural vote in Alabama House

A bill to allow people convicted of a drug-related felony to regain eligibility for food assistance or cash welfare benefits in Alabama suffered a setback Wednesday when it failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the state House. The House voted 55-43 Wednesday to consider SB 303, sponsored by Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham. That majority [...]
Issues
Criminal Justice, Safety Net
Date
April 2, 2014
Author
Chris Sanders
Blog

Alabama House sends tight General Fund budget to Bentley; ETF plan wins Senate approval, awaits House vote

The Alabama House voted 76-25 Tuesday night to agree to the Senate version of the General Fund (GF) budget and send it to Gov. Robert Bentley for his consideration. GF support for the Department of Corrections would fall by about $2 million, or 0.5 percent, next year under the budget, even though Alabama’s prison system is operating [...]
Issue
Budgets
Date
April 1, 2014
Author
Chris Sanders