Letters & Testimony
Letters & Testimony
Alabama should use federal COVID-19 relief funds to heal and protect communities, Arise and partners write
To members of the Alabama Legislature, Alabama is struggling. Even after Governor Ivey issued an emergency stay-at-home order, the average number of new coronavirus cases continues to rise. And despite those climbing case numbers, Alabama is moving forward with reopening its economy. To accomplish a successful recovery, residents must have confidence that it is safe [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise and partners urge Ivey to use every Medicaid tool available to save lives during COVID-19 pandemic
To: Gov. Kay Ivey and Commissioner Stephanie Azar From: The Undersigned Alabama Organizations Re: Alabama’s Policy Response to COVID-19 Date: March 19, 2020 Thank you both for your leadership, especially at this critical time. Alabama’s health care system, like most others around the world, is facing severe stresses with the COVID-19 pandemic. Seniors and people [...]
Letters & Testimony
Ending an ‘unjust burden’: Alabama Arise testimony in favor of SB 144 to untax groceries
Arise’s Robyn Hyden testified to the Senate’s education budget committee Wednesday in support of SB 144. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, would eliminate Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries and replace the lost revenue by capping the state deduction for federal income taxes. Here’s the full text of Hyden’s prepared remarks: Good [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise comments on how proposed SNAP changes would reduce school meal access
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing a rule that would require some states to reduce gross income limits for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants. It also would force 42 states, including Alabama, to impose resource limits on applicants. More than 3 million people would become ineligible for food assistance under the rule, [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise comments in opposition to proposed SNAP categorical eligibility changes
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing a rule that would require some states to reduce gross income limits for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants. It also would force 42 states, including Alabama, to impose resource limits on applicants. More than 3 million people would become ineligible for food assistance under the rule, [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise comments in opposition to federal plan to evict mixed-status immigrant families
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is proposing a rule that would bar tens of thousands of "mixed-status" immigrant families from living in public housing and Section 8 programs. These families include both members who are eligible and ineligible for assistance based on immigration status. The proposed rule would harm more than [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise comments in opposition to federal plan to redefine poverty line
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is proposing to reduce annual cost-of-living adjustments to the federal poverty line. Over time, this plan would reduce or end Medicaid, SNAP food assistance and other work supports for millions of Americans. Here is the full text of the comments Alabama Arise submitted in opposition to this proposal: [...]
Fact Sheet
Proposed Alabama Medicaid changes are ‘a catch-22 that forces people into the coverage gap,’ Alabama Arise tells officials
Alabama’s proposed new Medicaid work requirement waiver would be costly, counterproductive, ineffective and harmful to thousands of families who live in deep poverty, Alabama Arise wrote in official comments submitted to state Medicaid officials on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. “Threatening loss of health care in an attempt to force work efforts, without providing the supports that [...]
Letters & Testimony
Arise and partner groups urge Jones, Shelby to support Senate Farm Bill without harmful changes
Nearly 1 in 8 Americans, including nearly 900,000 Alabamians, depend on SNAP to help them keep food on the table. And each year, SNAP contributes $1.3 billion to Alabama’s economy, spent in more than 5,000 Alabama stores. Standing in stark contrast to the House Farm Bill, which could terminate or reduce benefits for more than 2 [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise submits comments in opposition to Alabama’s ‘flagrantly cruel’ Medicaid work requirement proposal
Alabama’s proposed new Medicaid work requirement waiver would be costly, counterproductive, ineffective and harmful to thousands of families who live in deep poverty, Arise wrote in comments submitted to the Alabama Medicaid Agency on Thursday, March 22. Click the "Download" button to read the full comments. About 1 million Alabamians – mostly children, seniors, people [...]