Category: Blog

Alabama Arise listens because we deeply value the input we get from members, partners and most importantly, those directly affected by the work we do together. We depend on what we hear to help guide our issue work and our strategies.

We held two virtual statewide Town Hall Tuesdays this summer, and each featured three to four listening session breakouts. Arise staff either facilitated or were part of 20 additional listening sessions, both online and in person around the state. We engaged more than 500 people in a total of 27 listening opportunities.

Following are direct notes from the town halls and highlights from the other sessions. These notes and highlights are listed under the names of the Arise organizers who heard them.

Town Hall Tuesdays

A better Alabama is possible, July 16

We had four breakout rooms during this session. We asked folks in each group to discuss their thoughts on current issues and to share other priorities they had. Here’s what our organizers heard from participants:

Pres Harris:

• Death penalty reform. We need to consider the impact that potential new appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court might have on this issue at the state level.
• Concern about new school choice laws that divert funding from public education. There is special concern in rural areas where there are either no or very limited options to public education for children. Many participants said this is a way to take more money from funding public education. Several participants agreed with the education concern.
• A sight-impaired participant lifted up education, voting rights and public transportation as key issues impacting people living with disabilities. There is a disparity in education among low-vision students. The disabilities community has been advocating for electronic voting so that sight-impaired people can vote with privacy. And lack of public transportation is a barrier to voting and other quality-of-life activities.
• Concern about the maternal health crisis and subsequent infant health care needs. We need to improve access to maternal care and health care overall. We need to expand Medicaid.
• One participant raised the need for people to have legal representation in civil issues like family issues, bankruptcy, school issues, etc. Another participant said the Alabama State Bar might be an ally in advancing such an issue.
• Public transportation was highlighted again as a need and a quality-of-life issue.
• In the main session, a participant raised the need to address a variety of veterans’ issues, with emphasis on veteran housing availability.

Stan Johnson:

• More funding for education programs for children ages 0-3. For a better Alabama, we need to focus on early education. Alabama has a home visitation program called First Teachers, designed to support families at risk for poor developmental outcomes. They use a variety of models, including Parents as Teachers and First Family Partnership. They go and visit families with children 0-3 years of age. Alabama is not putting additional money into 0-3 education. A participant noted that the state budget has included such funding in the past, and he wants to ensure it stays there. We have appropriated a couple million dollars, but Alabama receives more from the federal government than what the state puts in for this service. Minnesota puts 10 times as much money into their program as Alabama. Missouri has universal access to 0-3 education.
• Kids need to master their social and emotional milestones, and the ability to have a two-way productive interpersonal relationship. They need the ability to modulate their emotions appropriately in a group setting, to have a sense of curiosity and to have a sense of who they are. If they do not get the basic scaffolding in the first three years of life, then all the remediation in the world will not help them get through high school. Efficacy-based programs exist and have proved effective. Alabama is not doing enough about it.
• A participant said she is a retired teacher and could tell the difference between kids who were read to, loved and cuddled. The first three years make a world of difference. She said this does not need to be a named Arise priority, but it should be addressed.
• We have picked up momentum with Medicaid, but not nearly enough. Many participants said this needs to continue to be the No. 1 issue. Adequate health care is important for a better Alabama.
• Participants said they want to help with Medicaid expansion. They understand all it would take is for the governor to sign it and it would be a done deal. They do not understand why people would say they do not want money from the feds. For every dollar we send, we get back $2.17.
• Participants opposed turning back federal infrastructure money and ARPA money. The argument has no logic.
• Rural hospitals and departments closed this year, including in Thomasville, Monroe County and Union Springs. What are the governor’s plans to help those areas? Some voters in those areas do not realize that state policies have caused them to lose their health care. We have been saying for years that lack of Medicaid expansion would cause hospitals to close.
• Some women are now having to drive as far as 90 minutes away to get to an OB-GYN. We can see the harm that elected officials are causing to their constituents.
• Unfortunately, people do not realize when they vote that they sometimes are voting for representatives who do not seem to have their best interest in mind. We have already lost $7 billion in funding by not expanding Medicaid.
• One participant said the new teacher certification test is an issue for young or new teachers. What are some alternate ways toward certificates?
• A participant said Congress should have passed a Medicaid expansion bill, the Save Rural Hospitals Act. This would have helped rural areas to reopen hospitals. The state chose to enhance the port in Mobile instead of providing funding to rural hospitals. The hospitals would have provided jobs and training for RNs, LPNs, CANs and other hospital staff, as well as other jobs once the hospitals opened.
• We have to educate our decision-makers about looking at cost holistically and not just as a one-time investment. We are losing people due to not investing and not expanding Medicaid.

Adam Keller:

• It’s hard to begin, because all of the issues are so interrelated and important.
• Public transportation is so important to access to food and work. Several participants weighed in on public transportation.
• One participant said crime is out of control and expressed concern about gun safety. They are concerned about gun violence and how Gov. Kay Ivey and lawmakers have loosened restrictions. They emphasized the need for citizen participation.
• There are false narratives around crime. We need more community-based public safety.
• A participant brought up the lack of Medicaid expansion, closing of rural hospitals and lack of OB-GYNs. She had a medical incident and only survived because she had immediate attention.
• A participant said the secretary of state’s salary should be tied to voter registration. They also brought up bicycles as a help for transportation, as well as university bike share programs and bike grants. They said the state needs to grant more paroles and shouldn’t require people to pay a bunch of fees before voting rights are restored.

Formeeca Tripp:

• It’s important to know the history of Alabama so we can understand the past and where we are going.
• A longtime Alabama Arise member is eager to keep learning more. He believes the issues proposed are good, and we need to keep focusing on them.
• One big supporter of Medicaid expansion believes it needs to keep being addressed in the legislative sessions. He also supports the end to the state grocery tax but is lost on “what else can we do?” He also has concerns with gun violence, along with other participants.
• Another longtime member is a big supporter of Medicaid expansion and believes we need to keep working on the current list of priorities for the next legislative session.
• Another participant believes payday and predatory lending should be addressed and a priority issue. Transportation, specifically for disabled veterans, is important and needs to be addressed, not just grouped under the general transportation umbrella. She also would like to see gun violence reduction as a priority issue and has a movement called “SWAG – Safer Without A Gun,” to buy back real and toy guns as well as educate on gun safety, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills, especially in underserved communities.
• Medicaid expansion, transportation and gun violence were the dominant topics in our breakout room.

Building toward a better Alabama, Aug. 6

We had three breakout rooms during this session. We asked folks in each group to discuss what motivates them to act on issues and how Arise supports their actions. And we asked them to indicate their priority issues. Here’s what our organizers heard from participants:

Pres Harris:

• Participants shared consensus about the need to expand Medicaid to address several health care concerns. These included rural hospital closures, maternal mortality rates in Alabama and support for mental health care needs.
• Concern for the survival of our democracy with attacks on voting rights was expressed. Public education, affordable housing and public transportation also were highlighted. Several said it is hard to prioritize the current Arise issues, as they are all critical.
• Participants shared what motivates them to action: hearing the stories of those directly impacted, knowing they are coming together with others to advocate, and the feeling of confidence they get because Arise has helped equip them with information and tools to act.

Stan Johnson:

• We heard consensus that all the issues are important, and it is difficult to pinpoint which is a priority over another.
• Jobs to Move America supports everything Arise does and wants to see a clawback of incentives to companies that violate child labor laws (e.g., Hyundai’s supply chain). We want to raise that up for consideration. These kids come from impoverished backgrounds in Mexico/Central America, and they send money back to their families. Sen. Merika Coleman and Rep. Neil Rafferty had a bill last year, and it passed in the Senate and House committee unanimously; we just ran out of time. We need to send these car manufacturers a message. They are working on a strategic direction proposal to submit.
• We need to continue to grow the communication network throughout the state.
• Alabama Arise is the most respected organization in the State House.
• We need to make serious reforms to the state budgets and appropriations so we can take care of the people of Alabama, instead of Mercedes, etc. We do not have money to fund social programs, but corporations are receiving gigantic tax breaks. These are billions of dollars that could have helped the citizens of Alabama.
• One organization is working on criminal legal reform in Alabama, especially looking at the death penalty.
• A participant was very upset that Alabama does not participate in programs, and then the same government comes and says we do not have any money.
• Several participants said transportation needs to improve in Alabama, which also helps people have access to jobs. Transportation is a big topic for people with disabilities. One participant said some of her clients are not able to get to appointments at UAB because of a lack of public transportation. Some transportation directors, on the other hand, do not see the need and want to make further cuts because of low ridership on the buses. Her clients are losing their jobs because of unreliable transportation. Decatur has Ride on Demand, where you must call in to request a ride. It can be a two-hour wait time. There are bus stops on busy roads, so it is dangerous for individuals in wheelchairs as well as able-bodied individuals. These are some of the reasons people do not use Decatur’s transportation system.
• Another participant from Mobile said she has been working on Medicaid expansion and is glad we were able to get an extension on the coverage for postpartum maternity care. She is pushing health care as the main issue, along with the social determinants associated with health.

Adam Keller:

• We need more mental health services, which will help reduce prison overcrowding and crime.
• Alabama needs prison reform, including addressing the prison labor situation.
• We heard affirmation of our current agenda, including specifically voting rights and Medicaid expansion.
• We heard discussion of burnout and the importance of persistence (with the grocery tax as an example).
• Some members shared that they wouldn’t be involved if it wasn’t for our help and said Arise gives them more hope for the state.

Additional listening sessions

This section highlights participants’ input from the 19 additional sessions recorded by the Arise organizing team. In general, all participants strongly affirmed Arise’s work on current legislative priorities. Many thought that Arise should continue to build on momentum it has around some of the current issues. Many also said we need to see more change in the existing priorities. Members seemed to affirm these sentiments, as no new issues were proposed for 2025. These notes lift up the other issues of concern that participants highlighted as we listened.

Pres Harris – Baldwin, Elmore and Mobile counties

Participants in these meetings affirmed the current Arise priorities, acknowledging that our issues are long-haul issues.

Other issues raised:

• The need to address gun violence.
• The need for parole reform was proposed by a group of women from the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women who are sponsored by Arise member group Greater Birmingham Ministries. GBM submitted the issue as a strategic approach under the existing criminal justice reform issue.

Stan Johnson – Birmingham/Jefferson County and Tuscaloosa/West Alabama

Most of the participants in these meetings focused on the existing legislative priorities and discussed ways to continue the work toward progress.

A member group planned to submit a proposal for a strategic approach to getting more funding for the 988 mental health crisis hotline that connects folks to needed resources. This is not a new issue, but it would be part of Arise’s permanent priority of adequate state budgets.

Other issues raised: More needs to be done about payday loans, energy/solar power incentives and veterans in crisis.

Whit Sides, Arise’s Cover Alabama storyteller, participated in a session with disability advocates that involved listening to and sharing stories related to intellectual disabilities and neurodivergence/autism. Participants were interested in developing their stories for advocacy with policy and lawmakers.

Adam Keller – Northeast/Madison and Morgan counties

Most of the participants in these meetings strongly affirmed the current Arise priorities.

During further discussion, participants highlighted issues related to public education, child nutrition, paid parental leave and parole/probation reform.

Several conversations centered on how the work of Arise connected with labor and worker power.

Formeeca Tripp – Houston, Lee, Montgomery and Tallapoosa counties

Many participants in these meetings expressed appreciation for Arise’s work around our current issues, especially voting rights, health care and other safety net issues.

Other issues raised:

• The lack of affordable housing that contributes to issues of homelessness.
• Legislation that impacted the Black population historically and current laws and policies that lawmakers have passed.
• Issues that negatively impact racial equity and inclusion.
• The need to address gun violence and have programs for youth.