Category: Blog

Federal Medicaid, SNAP threats imperil Alabamians

By Chris Sanders

Lawmakers should not hurt those who are struggling by helping people who are already doing well. But Congress is considering cuts to health coverage, food assistance and other human services that would do exactly that. These proposals would increase hunger and hardship for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians.

The U.S. House last month approved a budget resolution that could set the stage for more than $1 trillion of cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade. Congressional leaders are weighing these cuts to offset the cost of renewing huge tax breaks for wealthy people. Among those breaks are higher estate tax exemptions and a cut to the top marginal income tax rate.

The contrast is stark. The amount of potential Medicaid and SNAP cuts in the House resolution would be roughly equal to the cost of extending tax breaks for just the wealthiest 1% of households, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) found.

These funding cuts would increase suffering across Alabama. As many as 1 in 5 Alabamians enrolled in Medicaid could lose coverage due to cuts or work reporting requirements, CBPP estimated. Many other people could see SNAP assistance reduced or eliminated. Other potential targets include school meals, student loan assistance and tax credits for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

“Our lawmakers should reject harmful service cuts for working people and tax giveaways to wealthy households,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “They should focus instead on building an economy that works for everyone in Alabama and across our country.”

Arise is speaking out against harmful cuts

The proposed cuts are not a done deal. The House and Senate still must agree on an identical budget resolution. After that, lawmakers would have to identify specific cuts to meet the resolution’s numerical targets. Then the House and Senate would have to pass budget legislation to enact those cuts.

Arise and our partners have spoken out repeatedly against these harmful proposals. We joined 55 other groups in January to urge Alabama’s congressional delegation to reject additional tax breaks for wealthy households. The joint letter asked Congress to provide tax reductions for working families instead by expanding the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. Arise also joined 111 groups in February in another letter urging Alabama’s delegation to reject cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.

Read the January letter here and the February letter here.

Arise and our members will continue opposing service cuts that would hurt families who struggle to make ends meet. As we wrote to Congress in January: “Americans want you to meet the moment and put the future and well-being of all of us ahead of tax cuts for the wealthy and well-connected.”

‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’

By Robyn Hyden

Mr. Rogers said his mother told him the quote above when things he saw on the news frightened him.

We are in scary times, to say the least. Congress is advancing a billionaires-first budget that could gut Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, TANF, public health and school meals. Our president is pushing the boundaries of executive authority and challenging the rule of law. Billionaires are vilifying people who access public benefits and calling the core functions of government into question.

Immigrant, Black and LGBTQ friends and neighbors are being pushed into the shadows as they are attacked and harassed. Some are seeing their competence or their very right to exist in our country or in their workplaces questioned.

But our history is not entirely written yet. The outcomes will be determined by those who show up, speak out, march in the streets and dissent.

When I look around and see all the Arise members and allies standing together to speak out, I see the helpers. Thank you for standing with us to help hold the line for our democracy and for an inclusive, fair and free society.

Make the most of your membership

By Jacob Smith

At Alabama Arise, we work to engage everyday people on policies that impact people with low incomes. Our collective voice is stronger together!

We’re in the middle of Alabama’s legislative session, which means your support is fueling our work at a critical time. Will you help us build momentum? Here are a few ideas:

  • Visit alarise.org/donate to make a monthly or one-time gift.
  • Share our social media posts and action alert emails with your friends and family.
  • Join us at Arise Legislative Day in Montgomery on March 20.

As a member, you are a part of our network of more than 150 organizations and 1,500 individuals. You also can access benefits such as:

  • The Daily News Digest, which compiles relevant news and opinions about Arise’s priorities.
  • Weekly legislative updates during the session so that you always know what’s happening in Montgomery and how you can help.
  • The opportunity to work directly with our staff to advocate for the causes you care about most.

If you have any questions, reach out to me at jacob@alarise.org. Thank you for joining Arise in our work!

McKenzie Burton wants to get a cup of coffee with you

By Whitney Washington

Alabama Arise’s supporters and members are used to seeing a handful of friendly faces from the staff regularly. They may see organizers speaking at listening sessions or policy analysts giving TV interviews.

But many other staff members are also integral to realizing Arise’s mission. One is someone whose name you may recognize, but not her face: McKenzie Burton, an Arise development associate since October 2021.

Photo of McKenzie BurtonMcKenzie’s journey to Arise started after graduating from the University of Georgia and serving as a youth minister and outreach coordinator for an Episcopal Church in New York.

“I loved the work, and doing direct service work made me realize that what I really wanted was to help solve the root of the problems I was seeing,” she said.

After stints working for political campaigns, McKenzie found herself drawn to policy work.

“Electing the right people is important, but we must hold our officials accountable to doing the right thing once they are in office,” she said. “I feel lucky to have found a home in this journey at Alabama Arise. Arise is doing some of the toughest policy work in one of the toughest states, making our quest all the more crucial for everyday people.”

‘I learn every day from our members’

As a development associate, McKenzie works to recruit and nurture Arise members. She leads fundraising campaigns, membership drives and more. After working directly with Arise members for more than three years, she’s learned quite a bit from them.

“This work is hard, and I learn every day from our members what it looks like to stay focused and persistent in a way that is sustainable for yourself and the organization long-term. I also admire the dedication to collective organizing,” she said.

McKenzie said she loves engaging with members, and encourages them to reach out directly to her.

“Getting to know our members and helping to connect them to the pieces of the work they care most about is my favorite part of my job,” she said. “Reach out to grab a cup of coffee with me!”

‘A girl can dream’

Arise’s work is difficult, but McKenzie has high hopes for the future.

“I would love to see us begin to really stretch our wings and reach people in the state that we haven’t been able to reach before and build a truly diverse and reflective membership base,” she said. “My goal in this work is always to work myself out of a job! Maybe in 30 years, we will have built a truly responsive, just state with policies that set us all up for success. A girl can dream.”

McKenzie has accomplished a lot in her time as development associate. But one of her proudest moments came outside that role, when she participated in the creation of Alabama Arise Workers United.

“I was really proud to have helped organize our staff union, and even prouder to be working for an organization that has voluntarily recognized our union and been supportive of a democratic workplace,” she said.

McKenzie said she balances the trying work of advocacy with intentional self-care.

“I try to not take work home. Leave emotional space for true decompression and connection with my friends and family, whether that’s over a movie, at a restaurant, or visiting out-of-town friends in their cities,” she said. “Nothing makes me feel more connected to myself and the world than quality time with my people.”

For those curious about how to support McKenzie and Arise’s work, she said it’s simple: Keep us growing.

“Continue to support the work, and bring your friends and family along with you,” she said. “I am only one person, and our staff is only 20 people. The more we grow our individual donations, the more we can focus on the work our members care most about, and the stronger our coalition’s voice is at the State House.”

Arise legislative update: Week of March 3, 2025

By Alabama Arise

Arise’s Debbie Smith highlights the wonderful turnout at Cover Alabama’s advocacy day on Medicaid expansion in Montgomery last week. She also discusses why Arise joined with more than 100 partner groups to oppose federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, and she explains how you can speak out against these harmful cuts as well. Finally, Debbie shares the good news that legislation to ensure paid parental leave for teachers and state employees is gaining momentum at the State House.

Full transcript:

Hi, everyone. This is Debbie Smith, Cover Alabama campaign director at Alabama Arise, sharing this week’s legislative update with news from both the state and federal levels.

Last week, Cover Alabama and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network partnered to bring together almost 100 people from across Alabama to push for Medicaid expansion and defend the program from harmful cuts. We heard powerful stories from people who lost their Medicaid coverage and fell into the coverage gap. Their experiences made it clear that expanding Medicaid isn’t just about covering more people—it’s about strengthening the program so no one is left without care.

At the federal level, there is a major threat. On Tuesday night, House Republicans passed a budget resolution that could lead to over a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits over the next decade, all while extending tax cuts passed during President Trump’s first term. Alabama Arise and over 100 partner organizations across the state sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to reject this budget resolution, warning that it would devastate health care and food assistance programs. Medicaid is the largest source of federal funding in Alabama’s budget, with more than 1 million Alabamians enrolled—over half of them children. Cutting Medicaid would put pregnant women, kids, and nursing home residents at risk while also threatening our rural hospitals.

And it’s not just health care at stake. SNAP, the program that helps people put food on the table, is also in danger. Nearly 400,000 households in Alabama rely on food assistance, including over 330,000 children. Alabama Arise and our partners have made it clear that slashing these programs will only increase hunger and hardship in a state where one in four children already experience food insecurity. But we’ve stopped harmful cuts to these life-saving programs before, and we can do it again. Let’s keep up the pressure—email Congress today and tell them no cuts to Medicaid by visiting coveralabama.org/savemedicaid.

There is some good news at the state level in Alabama. The Senate Finance and Taxation General Fund Committee just voted unanimously to advance SB 199, a bill that would provide paid parental leave to state employees, including K-12 public school teachers. This legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, ensures that state workers have the time they need to care for their families and children after childbirth, adoption, or miscarriage. Policies like this don’t just support workers—they strengthen families and communities.

Let’s continue advocating for policies that protect our health and our families. Together, we are making a difference.

Arise legislative update: Week of Feb. 24, 2025

By Alabama Arise

Arise’s David Stout shares some good news from the Alabama State House this week. The Senate and House have passed SB 102 and HB 89, respectively, and sent them to the other chamber for consideration. These bills would ensure that women eligible for Medicaid could get health care earlier in their pregnancies. David also discusses the introduction of SB 191, which would improve Medicaid coverage for mothers facing postpartum depression.

David also reviews two concerning bills that would be bad for health coverage in Alabama. HB 177 is a confusing bill that could put Medicaid coverage at risk for tens of thousands of children. And SB 84 would authorize health plans that could deny coverage for essential treatments or for people with preexisting conditions.

Full transcript:

Hello, this is David Stout, Arise legislative director, with some good news about happenings in the legislative session. Two maternal health bills are moving: SB 102 by [Sen. Linda] Coleman-Madison and HB 89 by Rep. [Marilyn] Lands. These bills will provide insurance for Medicaid-eligible mothers earlier in their pregnancy. It’s an important bill that will mean healthier mothers and healthier children in the future in Alabama.

Sen. [Vivian] Figures has introduced SB 191, which would provide Medicaid coverage for mothers suffering from postpartum depression. This bill, if it passes, will allow for counseling and prescription drugs to treat postpartum depression.

A bad bill, we think, has been introduced by Rep. [Ben] Robbins from Sylacauga. It’s HB 177, and the intent of the bill seems to be to move children from Medicaid health coverage to the coverage offered by the mother or father’s place of employment. This is a confusing bill. We don’t know exactly what the intention is or the outcome. Arise’s own executive director, Robyn Hyden, testified against the bill.

SB 84 is scheduled to be up in committee in a couple of weeks. We think this is a bad bill. What it does is allow ALFA to have its own unregulated insurance plan. Even worse, it asks that it not be forced to provide coverage for preexisting conditions. We consider this a junk insurance plan, and it is bad for people who are looking for health care. We will oppose this bill and will continue to keep you updated on it.

Feb. 25 is Cover Alabama’s Advocacy Day for Medicaid expansion. It lasts from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and we will, along with many groups, be lobbying the Legislature to expand Medicaid and provide better insurance for the citizens of Alabama.

Arise legislative update: Week of Feb. 17, 2025

By Alabama Arise

Arise’s David Stout brings you the latest after another busy week at the Alabama Legislature. David recaps some good news from last week: Bills increasing access to maternal health care (HB 89) and cracking down on companies that violate child labor laws (SB 22) passed in the House and Senate, respectively. He also shares worse news: The House passed HB 29, which would add more red-tape barriers to unemployment insurance for Alabamians facing joblessness.

David closes by discussing how proposed federal Medicaid and SNAP cuts would hurt Alabama, and by inviting our members to speak out at Cover Alabama Advocacy Day on Feb. 25. Stay engaged all year long by signing up for our action alerts and monitoring our bills of interest at alarise.org.

Full transcript

I’m David Stout, legislative director for Alabama Arise, with our weekly legislative report. Bills related to maternal health care moved in both houses this week. These bills would provide health care for mothers who did not have access to prenatal care. The House bill passed the House and awaits action in the Senate committee, while the Senate bill is out of committee and awaits action on the Senate floor.

Another bill we were interested in relates to clawbacks for industries that violate child labor laws. This bill, SB 22, easily moved out of committee and passed the Senate this week. It provides that if a company violates child labor laws, any incentives given to them by the state of Alabama could be clawed back.

A bill we opposed, related to unemployment compensation, passed the House. It made the standards more rigid and made it more difficult to receive unemployment insurance, requiring more applications to businesses to qualify for benefits. Despite our opposition, it did pass and is now awaiting action in the Senate. An amendment was added that would exempt counties with fewer than 20,000 people, where industry is scarce and transportation is often inadequate.

There are also concerns about potential cuts to many programs in Washington. If proposed cuts to Medicaid are made, they could impact around $8 billion in Alabama. SNAP benefits are also threatened, which would affect at least one in five children in Alabama who rely on the program for healthy food. These developments could have a tremendous negative impact on Alabama, and we need to stay vigilant.

We also want to invite you to Cover Alabama Advocacy Day, an event to promote Medicaid expansion. It will take place on Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We encourage you to visit coveralabama.org and sign up. If you attend, we will make accommodations and provide lunch. It is crucial to raise our voices to both the public and the Legislature regarding Medicaid expansion. I hope to see you there. Thank you.

Arise legislative update: Week of Feb. 10, 2025

By Alabama Arise

Arise’s David Stout recaps a busier-than-usual first week of the 2025 Alabama legislative session, with updates about our progress on issues like paid parental leave, maternal health care and school breakfast for all. He also discusses some harmful new immigration legislation, as well as our ongoing work to close Alabama’s health coverage gap through Medicaid expansion.

Visit alarise.org and click on “Take Action” to view both our action alerts and our bills of interest.

Full transcript:

Hello, I’m David Stout, Alabama Arise’s legislative director. I want to give you a little update about what happened this week. It was an action-packed week, really. For the first time, they wrapped in budget hearings of the department heads into the session. The session began Tuesday, budget hearings were on Wednesday and Thursday, and in between, they had committee meetings and some action on the floor.

The good news is that there’s a lot of discussion about parental leave for educators and state employees, which Arise is fully supporting. There’s also work being done on maternal health care, and we’re working on a program to incentivize our schools to have a breakfast for every student. We’re optimistic. We’re working on that. It’s a budget request, and we hope that our hard work will pay off.

On the bad side, there’s a slew of onerous immigration bills that have been filed. Some are really questionable, and we’ll have to track those. It’s a troublesome time given the attitude on immigration, and so we will have to monitor those as we go through the session.

Next week, we will be working on our Medicaid expansion issue. We know that there’s a lot of negativity coming out of Washington, but we’re not going to give up the fight. We’ve got a large coalition working on it, and we hope to continue our efforts there.

Remember that Arise depends on contributions to keep the good fight going. If you need information, please go to alarise.org. If you’re not a member, go there and please join. Watch for our emails and participate in our action alerts so that we can let our legislators know what we think are the best avenues to make Alabama a better state.

Have a good day.

Arise legislative update: Week of Feb. 3, 2025

By Matt Okarmus

Arise’s David Stout welcomes everyone to the Alabama Legislature’s 2025 regular session. Watch to see what to expect and learn about parental leave, school breakfast and other key issues where we hope to make progress this year.

Remember to sign up for our action alerts. And you can read more about our 2025 legislative priorities.

Full transcript below:

Hello, I’m David Stout, the legislative director for Alabama Arise, and I’m here to give you a brief look at the upcoming 2025 legislative session. The session begins Tuesday, Feb. 4, and the Constitution prescribes that the Legislature must meet over 105 days. There are actually 30 so-called working days where they meet, debate, and vote on bills in a session.

There are many issues that are very important to Arise members, and we need to be aware of them and be able to give our input as this session proceeds. During the first week, the budget presentations before the Legislature will occur on Feb. 5 and Feb. 6. These budget hearings, for the first time, are wrapped into the session and will include presentations by financial directors, state departments, education— a whole variety of departments in state government.

Especially important this year, and critical to making Alabama a better state, are three key issues that Arise will be working on. One is parental leave, which we hope will give parental leave for the first time in Alabama to state employees and educators. Secondly, we will be offering a plan to incentivize schools to provide breakfast for all students in public schools in Alabama. Lastly, we will continue our efforts to see that Alabama joins the majority of other states and expands Medicaid to give health coverage to over 200,000 Alabamians who do not have it.

Arise will also be working on a broad agenda in the Legislature, including criminal justice reform, seeking funds for public transportation, maternal and infant health care, voting rights, death penalty reform, and pushing to take more taxes off groceries.

We will keep you posted as we move through this session. It’s extremely important that you stay engaged, and the way to stay engaged is to be conscious of the Arise action alerts. We hope you participate, we hope you contact your legislators, and we think it’s important that you meet with your legislators personally. It’s going to be a difficult session, but Arise is working, we think, for the betterment of the people of Alabama.

Arise 2025: How we’re working to build a better Alabama

By Alabama Arise

Alabama Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for all. We believe in an Alabama where everyone’s voice is heard and everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. And we believe better public policies are the key to building a brighter future for our state.

Below, we’ll share some details of that vision with you before the Alabama Legislature’s regular session begins Feb. 4. We’ll focus on the crucial legislative priorities on our 2025 roadmap to change.

Graphic listing Alabama Arise's 2025 legislative priorities: Arise's roadmap to a better Alabama. The priorities are untaxing groceries, Medicaid expansion, voting rights, criminal justice reform, maternal and infant health, public transportation and death penalty reform.

It’s time to close Alabama’s health coverage gap

For more than a decade, Alabama has been outside looking in on a good deal. While hundreds of thousands of Alabamians continue to struggle without health insurance, state leaders have failed to expand Medicaid. A few loud voices have politicized an issue that never should have been political. And our state has paid the price in lost dollars, lost jobs and lost lives.

Alabama is one of 10 states that has yet to expand Medicaid. That inaction has left hundreds of thousands of Alabamians in a health coverage gap. We’re advocating to make this the year when our state closes that gap.

READ MORE – An Alabama solution: Closing the health coverage gap

Finish removing the state grocery tax

Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries is a cruel tax on survival, and Arise is committed to eliminating it. We were thrilled to see lawmakers pass legislation in 2023 to cut the state grocery tax in half after decades of persistent advocacy by our members. And we’ll continue advocating to remove the rest of the tax sustainably and responsibly. We’re grateful to serve on a state commission that is studying policy pathways to end the state grocery tax while protecting vital funding for public schools.

WATCH – The path forward in Alabama Arise’s work to untax groceries

Fund public transportation to improve life for all Alabamians

Alabama’s labor force participation rate is among the nation’s lowest. Only 58% of working-age adults reported they were actively working or looking for jobs as of November 2024. Our state also has nearly 100,000 more job openings than workers available to fill them. Yet 31% of Alabama job seekers cite transportation issues as the reason they are unemployed or underemployed, according to a study commissioned by the governor’s office.

Unfortunately, Alabama is one of only three states that has no state funding set aside to support public transportation. Alabama Arise will advocate for that to change during this legislative session.

READ MORE – Fund public transportation to improve life for all Alabamians

Expand voting rights to right past wrongs and safeguard democracy in Alabama

Voting rights are the foundation of our democracy, and we should do everything we can to protect them. However, since the U.S. Supreme Court stripped away federal preclearance of voting law changes in 2013, the Legislature has passed several harmful laws to create unnecessary barriers to voting rights in Alabama. This included 2024’s SB 1, which created a chilling effect for people trying in good faith to help Alabamians with absentee voting. Arise will advocate instead for positive steps to support voting rights, including passage of the Alabama Voting Rights Act, which would protect absentee voting and clarify voting procedures. Additionally, lawmakers will introduce bills to remove barriers to voting rights restoration for citizens released from incarceration.

READ MORE – Expand voting rights to right past wrongs and safeguard democracy in Alabama

It’s time for Alabama to prove we care about mothers and children

Healthy parents and healthy children mean a healthier future for Alabama. Comprehensive maternal and infant health care investments are crucial to ensure the health and safety of both infants and Alabamians of child-bearing age, especially postpartum mothers, pregnant women and future mothers. Lawmakers have numerous policy options to increase the number of health care providers and extend health coverage to more parents.

READ MORE – The Alabama Maternal Health Toolkit

School breakfast for all: What Alabama can do to help feed all of our kids

School breakfast for all would help reduce child hunger in Alabama, and it would go a long way toward the goal of guaranteeing a morning meal for every child in our state. School breakfast’s benefits are wide-ranging: It helps address chronic absenteeism, improves adolescent mental health, alleviates behavioral problems and improves test scores. Alabama Arise is pushing for a $16 million appropriation from the Education Trust Fund to ensure every district can pull down the maximum federal funding, and to give local schools the opportunity to offer no-cost breakfast for all Alabama children.

READ MORE – School breakfast for all: What Alabama can do to help feed all of our kids

Alabama’s death penalty practices remain unjust and unusually cruel

Americans increasingly oppose the death penalty. Gallup found that opposition to the death penalty more than doubled in the past 25 years. This may result from disturbingly high error rates in the system. For every 10 people executed since 1976, one innocent person on death row has been set free.

Alabama took an important step toward death penalty reform in 2017 by banning judicial overrides of juries’ sentencing decisions, and we will aim to work this session to make that ban retroactive. But the state’s death penalty scheme also remains broken in many other ways.

READ MORE – Alabama’s death penalty practices remain unjust and unusually cruel

Alabama’s parole system is still broken. How can we fix it?

The state’s parole system is a failure in both its design and in application of its own rules. We need to increase parole board oversight and eliminate racial disparities in parole. People also deserve to be able to attend their own parole hearings.

Arise’s suggested changes would be an important step in the direction of a more just Alabama, and they would mitigate some of the problems plaguing our state’s prison system overall.

READ MORE – Alabama’s parole system is still broken. How can we fix it?

Paid parental leave improves life for Alabama workers

Like any employer, our state should ensure its workers have jobs that support their ability to care for their families. The teachers, social workers and many other state employees who help look after our children and who build up Alabama for all the families in the state should be able to create and grow their own families without scrambling to pay the bills.

Paid parental leave is a common-sense policy that helps workers care for their families while maintaining their careers and financial well-being. State officials often have said Alabama is pro-family. Ensuring that teachers and state employees have paid parental leave is an important step to prove it.

READ MORE – Paid parental leave improves life for Alabama workers