Category: Blog

What Alabamians need to know about Healthcare.gov tax credits and open enrollment for 2026

By Debbie Smith

Hundreds of thousands of Alabamians will face higher health care costs if Congress does not act to extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits (ePTCs) that make Healthcare.gov coverage more affordable. These tax credits reduce monthly premiums based on how much money a family makes. That helps families who don’t have access to health insurance through their jobs pay less for their coverage.

The ePTCs have helped hundreds of thousands of families across Alabama access care, fill prescriptions and stay healthy. With open enrollment beginning Saturday, Nov. 1, many Alabamians already have started seeing 2026 premiums that no longer include these extra savings, which are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025.

Health coverage through Healthcare.gov has made a life-changing difference for families across Alabama. Today, more than 400,000 Alabamians pay lower monthly premiums thanks to these enhanced tax credits.

A smiling man wearing a white coat and holding a clipboard speaks with a woman wearing an orange blouse and blue jeans. Both are sitting in chairs. Text: "Alabama Arise blog post: What Alabamians need to know about Healthcare.gov tax credits and open enrollment."

Why this matters so much in Alabama

Because Alabama has not expanded Medicaid, our state relies heavily on the Healthcare.gov Marketplace to fill the health coverage gap and help working people get the care they need. Losing ePTCs would mean hundreds of thousands of Alabamians could no longer afford coverage. This would widen the gap between those who can see a doctor and those who cannot.

In fact, 51% of Healthcare.gov enrollees in Alabama would qualify for Medicaid if they lived in one of the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid. In the absence of Medicaid expansion, ePTCs are the only realistic path to affordable coverage for these Alabamians.

What’s at stake for Alabama

Who would be hit the hardest

  • Small business owners and self-employed workers. More than 65,000 Alabamians in this group rely on Marketplace coverage.
  • Older adults and families with modest incomes. A 60-year-old Alabama couple making $85,000 could see annual premiums for a standard plan jump from $6,970 to more than $27,000.
  • Households with low incomes. Individuals earning around $16,000 or families of four earning around $33,000 could be priced out of coverage entirely.

What to know for 2026 open enrollment

Open enrollment for Healthcare.gov plans runs from Nov. 1, 2025, through Jan. 15, 2026. This is the time for new and returning enrollees to shop for the coverage that best fits their needs and budgets. There is no one-size-fits-all option, but here are some key things every Alabamian should know:

  • Choose your plan by Dec. 15 for coverage starting Jan. 1, 2026. You can make changes through Jan. 15 if needed.
  • Update your information. If you have Healthcare.gov coverage now, review your contact details and income estimate to make sure your plan and tax credits are accurate. If your premium goes up, please let us know about it. We need to document how much costs have risen so we can advocate for you. Visit coveralabama.org/share or email coveralabama@alarise.org.
  • Stay informed. If Congress acts to extend ePTCs, premiums may decrease later in open enrollment, so check back in December for updates. Even if Congress does not extend ePTCs, most Marketplace consumers still will receive some level of help in 2026. But this amount likely will be far less than participants may have received before.
  • Get free local help. Talk to a navigator with Enroll Alabama for trusted, no-cost enrollment assistance. Navigators can help you compare plans, understand your options and sign up for coverage. Visit EnrollALA.com or call 844-248-7698.
  • Beware of junk insurance plans. Plans sold outside Healthcare.gov, such as short-term, association or health-sharing plans, may look cheaper, but they often do not cover essential services like prescriptions, mental health, maternity care or hospital stays. They also may not cap your out-of-pocket costs, leaving you exposed to medical debt if you get sick or injured.

What you can do

Alabamians should not have to choose between health care and basic needs. Extending the ePTCs would protect coverage for more than 400,000 Alabamians and help keep health care costs down for everyone.

You can help protect affordable coverage and make your voice heard:

What Alabamians need to know about SNAP during the federal shutdown

By Carol Gundlach

People should not have to choose between food, health care and other basic needs. But the White House’s decision to delay issuing food assistance benefits means millions of struggling families are about to be forced to make exactly that choice as the holidays approach.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week officially notified Alabama and other states that it would not issue food assistance benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the beginning of November. These benefits, which for now are 100% federally funded, are sometimes referred to as food stamps. The Department of Human Resources (DHR) confirmed Monday that SNAP participants in Alabama will see their benefits delayed.

More than 750,000 Alabamians – 1 in 7 people in our state – participate in SNAP. Nearly 40% of SNAP participants are children, according to the Food Research and Action Center. Alabama provided an average of $194 each in SNAP assistance to each participant in July. That means an average Alabama family of three participating in SNAP will lose nearly $600 next month.

Withholding these benefits will increase hunger and hardship across our state. It also could be financially devastating for grocery stores and other retailers, especially those serving large numbers of SNAP participants.

What SNAP participants should know

SNAP benefits still could be released later in November, either because the USDA changes its policy or because the budget standoff is resolved. If that happens, DHR will try to get November food assistance out as quickly as possible. But delays may occur, especially for people who get money added to their SNAP EBT cards early in the month.

If you are a SNAP participant, you still should be able to spend any money you already have on your EBT card after Nov. 1. But you will not see any additional money added to the card in November (or until this situation is resolved).

If you are scheduled to recertify your eligibility in November or to submit any paperwork to DHR, you should do that to avoid any further delays. And if you believe you are eligible for SNAP, you should go ahead and apply now. DHR is still processing applications, and eligible applicants will receive SNAP benefits retroactively to the date they applied once this situation is resolved.

To find emergency food from a food bank or food pantry, call 2-1-1 or visit Feeding Alabama’s food finder.

USDA can and should fund SNAP benefits for November

The USDA is using SNAP as a bargaining chip in the debate over the federal budget. The agency blames its decision to delay November SNAP benefits on the federal government shutdown. But the truth is that the USDA maintains a SNAP contingency fund with enough money in it to cover most of the November benefits for the entire country.

USDA officials already have spent some reserve money from that fund to help states cover their SNAP administrative costs. But the USDA now claims it cannot legally use this money to help struggling families. This claim is contrary to both the plain language of federal law and the White House’s own prior practice.

The USDA already has dipped into some of its reserve funds to help farmers during the shutdown. While we support our farmers, we also support helping hungry families, especially with Thanksgiving approaching. Some states are scrambling to find enough state money to cover SNAP benefits through November. But the USDA has announced that, unlike in previous shutdowns and unlike for other federal programs, it will not reimburse states for any money spent for food assistance.

How you can fight hunger and speak out for change

Donate to a food bank or food pantry. Hunger is about to soar due to the SNAP benefit delay. Please consider generously donating to your local food bank or food pantry. Unlike most shoppers, food banks buy food in bulk and at a discount, so financial gifts can feed far more people than direct gifts of food. But food banks and food pantries appreciate every donation and will use them to help our neighbors and communities.

Demand action from your federal officials. Food banks play an essential role in relieving hunger, but they cannot replace SNAP. The USDA’s decision to delay November SNAP benefits will increase hardship for families across our country. This policy also is a part of an effort to pressure Congress to discontinue enhanced premium tax credits that make Marketplace health coverage more affordable for millions of Americans, including nearly 500,000 Alabamians.

You can speak out now to help protect food assistance and health care access for people across Alabama:

People and families need both food and health care. No one should have to make a choice between seeing a doctor and keeping food on the table, and Congress should support both food assistance and affordable health insurance.

What Alabama Arise heard in 2025!

By Presdelane Harris

Alabama Arise strives to live out our values. A core piece of our vision is that we have an Alabama where people are engaged in the policymaking process. And we prioritize the voices of those marginalized by poverty.

One way we try to realize our vision of people’s engagement is to listen. We value the input we get from our members and partners – and most importantly, from 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 a virtual statewide town hall this summer and either facilitated or were part of several additional listening opportunities around the state throughout the year. We engaged almost 700 people in a total of 22 listening opportunities.

Following are notes from the town hall and highlights from the other sessions. These notes and highlights are listed under the names of the Arise organizing team members who heard them.

Virtual Town Hall

  • Celebrating & listening, Aug. 26 – We reviewed Arise’s 2025 priorities and celebrated our unprecedented wins together! Two small group breakouts followed. We asked folks in each group to discuss their thoughts and to share any other priorities they had. Here’s what our organizers heard from participants:

Formeeca Tripp, Senior Organizer for Southeast Alabama – Group 1:

  • Are there other issues you would choose as Arise policy priorities?
    • A deeper dive into the connections between the legislation that has passed and the people, families, businesses, etc., directly impacted.
    • Look at fines and fees keeping people from voting. Particularly in cases where all other requirements have been completed, but not restitution.
  • What motivates you to take action on issues you care about?
    • Justice in every aspect and big movement against things that are not protecting and respecting the people.
    • Helping eliminate suffering by people who are in low economic positions and may feel powerless.
    • Those who are not impacted make decisions. The ones who are impacted are not making decisions, though it impacts them the most. Infusing them with the idea that their voice, vote and life matter.
  • What can Arise do to further support your issue advocacy?
    • Continuous reviews on legislation and policies, especially for those who don’t hold on to all the information well. If we can, get a handle on the issue in a way that really responds to those who are impacted the most.
  • The overall consensus of the group was to keep working on our current priority issues and really lift up voices and experiences of those directly impacted by legislation more so than those who represent them.

Tamela Glover, Northeast Alabama Organizer – Group 2:

  • Issues and concerns raised by members of this group were as follows:
  • Voting rights: More specifically, they wanted more education on laws and barriers to voting and ways we can combat that. 
  • Maternal health: Reproductive health care.
  • Public transportation and the lack of transportation in some areas. 
  • Criminal justice: Death penalty reform.
  • Homelessness: The concern is that the lack of housing is being criminalized. There’s an uptick of homeless people being arrested. 
  • Prevention of teenage pregnancy: Schools only teach abstinence; there needs to be a balance in teaching sexual education again for kids who are active. The desire is to see education readily available for parents to teach their kids. 
  • Anniston has an emergency shelter. They would like to see that modeled in other counties in case of a disaster.
  • There are also concerns with having poverty criminalized.
  • More information and guidance on strategies for people losing health care coverage.
  • Food bank donations are decreasing in north Alabama. Some contracts are being canceled.
  • Some asked whether we had some strategies for immigrant protections against ICE.

Listening around the state

This section highlights participants’ input from the 21 additional sessions engaged by Arise’s organizing team. In general, people affirmed Arise’s work on current legislative priorities and said our recent wins indicated a need to continue in those areas. They also said we need to see even more change in areas addressed by our existing priorities.

The following lifts up both Arise-related issues and other issues of concern raised by people we listened to across Alabama.

Bernadette Allen, Southwest Alabama Organizer

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

  • Disparity of services received in some communities versus wealthier ones.
  • The need to spread the word and share information about the impact of the new federal budget law (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on people in communities, especially related to health coverage, health care services and SNAP. This came up many times at different events.
  • We heard interest expressed in our labor work and ways that folks could engage.
  • People also were interested in learning more about Arise membership as a way to connect and continue engagement on crucial issues.

Tamela Glover, Northeast Alabama Organizer

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

  • The impact of inequitable resources to underresourced communities in the area of public education.
  • Accessible, affordable and available housing is a huge need.
  • Changes in policy can help address some of the community needs. How do we reach more people with information about issues and how to engage the process to change policy?

Jennifer Harris, Senior Health Policy Advocate & Presdelane Harris, Organizing Director

Jennifer planned (and Pres facilitated) a listening session focused on oral health to hear about experiences and needs people have related to accessing oral health care. Following is what we heard from participants:

  • Key themes and community concerns
    • Severe access gaps in rural areas
    • Post-incarceration dental neglect
    • Workforce shortages and aging providers
    • Alabama Medicaid limitations
      • Adult dental care is not covered.
      • Prenatal dental coverage ends 60 days postpartum, leaving new mothers without continued support.
  • Policy insights and recommendations
    • Expand Medicaid dental benefits.
    • Support rural practice incentives.
    • Recognize dental conditions as chronic diseases.
    • Advance water fluoridation legislation.
    • Leverage community infrastructure to create community access.

Stan Johnson, Northwest Alabama Organizer

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

  • The most jarring concern lifted by young people was bullying in school. One young lady (around age 16) said she had been non-stop bullied since she was in the third grade. Heartbreaking. We need stronger legislation around bullying in school.
  • Fines and fees and voting: Participants asked whether it is possible for fines and fees not to preclude you from voting. 
  • Transportation and how to get the rural areas more informed and involved. Participants said we need to fund the Public Transportation Trust Fund.
  • Health equality and having doctors who actually listen to their patients and don’t bully them.
  • Food security and especially the impact of the new federal budget law on SNAP, including how farmers and small grocers are impacted.
  • Housing insecurity is a problem for college students as well as working-class and poor Alabamians.
  • The Workforce Engagement Committee, as it is presently set up, is not a diverse representation of Alabamians. Participants shared concerns about racial representation and wanting to see more young people on the committee. This issue was more administrative than legislative.
  • Voting rights: Concerns about seniors obtaining voter IDs and concerns about voting machines.
  • Education funding and the need to repeal the CHOOSE Act. 
  • Timberland taxation: Strong feelings about the need to tax timberland at a higher rate. Compared to neighboring states, Alabama has the lowest tax on timberland.

Adam Keller, Worker Power Campaign Director

Adam has been listening to our labor partners, and here are a couple of concerns he has heard.

  • Some union members rely on the ACA Marketplace subsidies for health care. With gig work, no health care is provided through employment. Many members have incomes low enough that they would qualify for Medicaid had Alabama expanded. We heard concern about the impact of the new federal budget law on Medicaid.
  • Some unions are concerned about the possibility of a reduction in force (RIF) and are facing the challenges of very low morale. These are stressful times for so many people trying to provide for themselves and their families.

Formeeca Tripp, Senior Organizer for Southeast Alabama

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

  • Participants discussed healthy reproductive practices and self-value. Topics concerned safety, maternal and infant health, trauma, HIV/AIDS testing and stigma, and LGBTQ+ experiences. 
  • Common issues raised in several different meetings: 
    • Medicaid expansion, expanded health care coverage and access, the broader impact of poverty on health, and racial disparities for Black women.
    • Mental health services and treatment, as well as drug addiction treatment and addressing the rate of suicides. 
    • Affordable housing, addressing housing shortages and funding the Housing Trust Fund.
    • Transportation and the needs for it, including funding the Public Transportation Trust Fund.
    • Voting rights, including accessibility to voters and the need for better representation in government.
  • School breakfast/Summer EBT, including the need to help people understand how to access the programs. Participants also shared concerns about overall food insecurity.
  • Employment and lack of opportunities in rural and small cities.
  • Education opportunities, including diversity in education and anti-DEI laws.
  • Anti-immigration legislation, the need for people to be safe and know their rights and the need to ensure advocacy work being done is inclusive of immigrant communities.
  • Gun violence needs to be addressed.

After a successful 2025 session, Alabama Arise looks toward the future

By Chris Sanders
Three men wearing suits and ties and a woman wearing a pink dress stand to either side of Gov. Kay Ivey, who is wearing a black jacket and seated behind a wooden table.
Several Alabama Arise staff members participated in Gov. Kay Ivey’s bill signing ceremony for HB 386 on July 31, 2025, at the State Capitol in Montgomery. HB 386 will reduce the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2% starting Sept. 1, 2025. Left to right: Arise legislative director David Stout; Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre; Gov. Kay Ivey; Arise hunger policy advocate LaTrell Clifford Wood and Arise communications director Chris Sanders. (Photo by Matt Okarmus)

Building a better Alabama for all is not the work of a single year or decade or even lifetime. It’s work that spans generations. Each of us should do our best to build upon the foundation laid by those who came before us, and to equip those who will come after us to reach even greater heights.

As we continue on the path to a brighter future, it’s important to celebrate milestone achievements along the way. Three bill signing ceremonies with Gov. Kay Ivey this summer were opportunities for Alabama Arise to rejoice over several hard-won legislative victories in 2025.

Arise staff members participated in a ceremony on June 12 for the “pink tax” law, which removed the state sales tax from baby formula, diapers, maternity clothing and other items for infants and parents. We also participated in two more ceremonies on July 31: one for a law reducing the state grocery tax from 3% to 2%, and another for the RAISE Act, which made important reforms to Alabama’s education funding formula.

How we will build on this success

These breakthroughs were just a few of the many policy victories we enjoyed this year. All of them resulted from years of determined advocacy by Arise members and supporters.

With an eye toward the long term, Arise will ask members this month to approve a list of legislative priorities for 2026-29. Members then will vote on which issue areas are most important to them and have the option to rank legislative proposals under each issue.

This multiyear commitment will allow Arise to focus more deeply on the issues that our members have chosen consistently in recent years. And it will empower us to continue working effectively to advance dignity, equity and justice for every Alabamian.

What the new federal budget law means for SNAP, health care in Alabama

By Alabama Arise

By Carol Gundlach, senior policy analyst, and Debbie Smith, Cover Alabama campaign director

While many Alabamians were celebrating July 4, Congress passed a sweeping budget reconciliation law that will hurt families across the country. To extend more than $1 trillion of tax cuts for the richest Americans, Congress slashed health care, food assistance and other vital services for ordinary people.

“It’s wrong to hurt people who are struggling to help people who are already far ahead,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said after the bill’s passage. “But Congress just passed legislation that will do exactly that. This budget bill is not only a moral failure. It’s bad policy, and it is a really bad deal for Alabama and our entire country.”

The biggest cuts nationally will be to Medicaid and to food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Alabama has not yet expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes, but the harmful new budget law will make it harder for our state to improve and expand health care access. And the law’s SNAP cuts and barriers will increase hunger and hardship across Alabama.

SNAP cuts will make it harder to make ends meet

The SNAP cuts will threaten Alabama’s ability to fund essential state services. They also will impose red-tape barriers for SNAP participants and reduce the future buying power of SNAP.

Threats to state budgets: Beginning in 2026, the Alabama Legislature will have to appropriate an estimated $35 million a year in new funding for SNAP administration. Beginning in 2027, the Legislature also may have to appropriate an estimated $172 million annually in new funding to help cover SNAP benefits, which have been fully federally funded for decades. If Alabama lawmakers cannot or will not provide the required state share of funding, the state would have to reduce the number of SNAP participants or opt out of the program entirely. Eliminating SNAP would end food assistance for more than 750,000 Alabamians and send hunger rates soaring in a state where 1 in 4 children already struggle with food insecurity.

Changes that place time limits on more people who receive SNAP: Many older adults, families with teen children, veterans, people who are experiencing homelessness and young adults who were in foster care may face burdensome new work reporting requirements to receive food assistance. And beginning immediately, many people who are legally in the United States as refugees, asylum seekers or victims of domestic violence or sexual assault may no longer be eligible for SNAP.

Changes that likely will reduce the amount of SNAP assistance over time: The new law prohibits the federal government from making substantive changes to the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, on which the amount of SNAP benefits is based. This change will reduce the value of SNAP assistance over time.

Health care cuts will increase human suffering

Reconciliation cuts to Medicaid primarily targeted states that had expanded Medicaid, but the bill also will make it harder for Alabama to improve our Medicaid program. The law also failed to renew subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians.

The law eliminates key financial incentives that encouraged Alabama and other states to expand Medicaid. We no longer will be eligible for $619 million in additional federal funding on top of the 90% federal match, which would have helped pay for the startup costs of Medicaid expansion.

The law also includes restrictions on provider taxes — a key tool Alabama uses to help fund its share of Medicaid. This will make it more difficult for Alabama to expand coverage going forward and could put a long-term limit on how our state finances Medicaid as health care costs rise.

Congress also failed to renew enhanced tax credits that have made Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) more affordable since 2021. These subsidies have helped hundreds of thousands of Alabamians lower their monthly premiums. Now, those enhanced subsidies are going away at the end of 2025.

The cuts to healthcare.gov tax credits mean that Alabamians’ monthly premiums will increase and fewer people will qualify for financial help. About 130,000 Alabamians are expected to lose coverage because of these changes.

Where we go from here

Arise is taking numerous steps in response to this law’s passage. These actions include:

  • Analyzing the law’s long-term impact on SNAP, Medicaid and ACA financing.
  • Creating resources for partners, community organizations and the public to explain the changes and what they mean. 
  • Meeting with state and local leaders to discuss options and ensure they understand the financial and human stakes of these changes. 

Even in the face of harmful federal policies, Arise’s commitment to the people of Alabama remains strong. We are working every day to protect access to food and health care and make sure families have the information and support they need.

2025 has been a roller coaster of a year for Alabama Arise

By Robyn Hyden

After years of advocacy, Alabama Arise and our partners secured several huge victories for low-income and working people at the State House this year! These legislative wins included:

  • An additional reduction of the state grocery tax.
  • A law removing the state sales tax on many women’s health products, maternity care items and baby care items. 
  • The first-ever state appropriation to expand no-cost school breakfast.
  • Continued funding for Summer EBT, known as SUN Bucks. 
  • Guaranteed paid parental leave for all state employees and teachers.
  • Improved health care access through the Alabama Maternal Health Act.
  • Reforms to the state’s funding formula for K-12 schools through the RAISE Act.

In most years, we would be celebrating the passage of just one of these bills, let alone seven. We also successfully opposed several bills targeting people participating in safety net programs like SNAP, Medicaid and unemployment insurance. And we successfully opposed some of the bills attacking our immigrant neighbors.

Our wins at the State House show that solidarity works. Multi-issue advocacy works. Long-term investment in power-building and community organizing, focused on engaging everyday people, is effective.

But even as we celebrate these victories, we see that our idea of an inclusive democracy is under threat. Bills attacking immigrants and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have been passed and implemented. These measures use a time-tested “divide and conquer” approach to try to make working-class people turn against each other instead of uniting around their common interests.

The passage of a cruel federal budget law has challenged our collective hopes for our country. This legislation could throw a major wrench in our plans to expand health coverage and alleviate hunger. And it could undermine our efforts to build a more progressive tax system, a more responsive government and a more inclusive democracy.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, we have a lot of work to do to defend and expand our democracy to be “responsive, inclusive and justice-serving,” as we say in Arise’s vision for an Alabama “where all people live with concern for the common good and respect for the humanity of every person.”

We need your support now more than ever. When the history of these times is written, Arise members will be those who were working on the side of dignity, equity and justice, for all of us. Thank you for standing with us.

Diverse membership is our power

By Jacob Smith

We just wrapped up our summer Membership Drive, where some of our members – “Arise Ambassadors” – helped grow our membership by inviting friends and neighbors to join Alabama Arise. People join Arise to build a more equitable Alabama. And our members are our power: You choose our legislative priorities and advocate with us at the State House.

We have nearly 2,000 members across the state in more than three-quarters of Alabama counties. And we have set goals to diversify our membership to be more reflective of Alabama’s demographics.

We’re making strong progress on those goals. Through our membership survey (which you can fill out at alarise.org/membership-survey), we have learned 49% of our members are people with low incomes, 9% are people under age 30 and 43% are people of color. This is significant progress over the past year.

If you’re excited about what we can do together, I want to invite you to join the efforts of our Arise Ambassadors and ask the people in your life to become members! To join Arise, they can give a gift of any amount at alarise.org/donate. Or if you know someone who cannot donate but cares about our issues, email senior development associate McKenzie Burton at mckenzie@alarise.org to ask about a free gift membership. Memberships last for a year.

Thank you for your partnership!

Annual Meeting to chart Arise’s course for 2026 and beyond

By Matt Okarmus

Grassroots democracy will be on display when Alabama Arise members help shape our 2026 legislative priorities at our Annual Meeting on Saturday, Sept. 27. There will be options to meet both in person and online via Zoom.

The Arise board voted to adjust the way we select our legislative agenda starting this year.

We will ask members to adopt seven broad issue categories for the next four years (2026-29). Then we will ask members to rank the categories in order of importance to them and to vote on priority legislation under their top two categories.

Below, you’ll find more information on the Annual Meeting. We will be meeting again at the Legacy Annex in Montgomery. You’ll also see our policy staff’s overviews of Arise’s legislative priorities. We hope you join us as we gather to renew our shared commitment to building a better Alabama for all!

Things to know for our Annual Meeting

When: 

Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Where: 

This is a hybrid event with options to attend in person as well as remotely via Zoom. The in-person meeting will be at The Legacy Annex, 115 Coosa St., Montgomery, AL 36104. This is the former site of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum.

Visit alarise.org/2025annualmeeting to find more details and registration information. There is no cost to attend, though donations are welcome. 

New this year: 

We will ask members to adopt seven broad issue categories for the next four years (2026-29). Arise’s bylaws empower members to adopt multiyear priorities, and the first two categories are already permanent issues for Arise.

The seven broad issue categories are adequate state budgets, tax reform, health equity, hunger relief, inclusive democracy, justice reform and worker power. We will ask members to rank the categories in order of importance to them. They then will have the option to vote on priority legislation for each issue.

For more information: 

If you have any questions, call the Arise office at 334-832-9060 or email info@alarise.org.

State, federal attacks on workers underscore need to organize in Alabama

By Dev Wakeley

Labor Day gives Alabamians an opportunity to celebrate the contributions that workers across our state and country make to keep our vital institutions operating and build a better world for all people. We live in a state where powerful and wealthy interests often leverage money and influence to discourage workers from unionizing. But even in the face of corporate opposition both in the state and nationally, workers and their unions have won many improvements, including overtime pay, a five-day workweek, child labor protections and workplace safety standards.

All these worker protections, and the unions that help safeguard them, are under attack now. The National Labor Relations Board has been non-functional for most of 2025 and recently received two anti-worker appointments. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also has been under attack, diminishing workplace safety protections. Dismantling federal protections likely will embolden bad-actor companies and could result in more illegal or unethical employer practices.

A man and two women sit around a table. One woman gestures with her hand as she speaks to the couple. The man and the other woman look at her, appearing to be in a serious discussion. The image is a blog post header for "Alabama Arise," with the title "State, federal attacks on workers underscore need to organize in Alabama."

Amid the changing federal regulatory landscape, claims of employer abuses have continued. During the 2024 organizing campaign with United Auto Workers at the Mercedes facility in Vance, workers accused the company of many union-busting activities, ranging from charges of worker intimidation to illegal retaliatory firing of union supporters. And during the recent Navistar election in Huntsville, workers allege the company violated its own neutrality policy and manipulated the election through gamesmanship regarding provision of health benefits.

Meanwhile, the White House recently has ramped up its worker attacks even further. These attacks include canceling contracts that protect thousands of Veterans Administration workers. This move likely will diminish quality of care for veterans nationwide.

Even against a stacked deck, improvement is possible

Workers unionized in the private sector and state and local governments have mobilized in opposition to the White House’s wholesale assault on federal workers’ rights in solidarity with federal workers. Workers’ unions and labor federations this Labor Day are having rallies and protests across the country to support worker protections and oppose federal attacks on unions and workers who are union members.

Well-funded anti-worker lobbies are strong institutions in Alabama. They remain powerful remnants of the state’s centuries-old plantation economy. But working people’s efforts to secure a stable, prosperous future for all Alabamians continue. And recently, they have borne fruit.

Efforts to provide paid parental leave to public school teachers, state employees and two-year college workers were successful this year. As of July 1, these groups of vital workers have increased economic stability through the provision of eight weeks of paid leave for mothers and two weeks for fathers. These state efforts have built on other, less expansive wins in other Southern states.

But these efforts rely on a limited view of good employment principles and the state’s role in providing quality jobs to the people who do the work. With educators and state employees, state agencies are acting as an employer, not as a regulator. Broader efforts to ensure paid leave and other concrete improvements for workers’ lives could face a drastically different response. Moreover, Alabama’s declining private-sector unionization rate reflects how workers face more limits in seeking better pay and treatment.

Job quality in Alabama is persistently low

The lower unionization rate has resulted in suboptimal job quality policies in areas beyond subpar wages. Workers fought unsuccessfully last year against anti-union legislation and a measure to reduce existing child labor protections. While undermining laws that protect working Alabamians’ well-being, state officials have continued to give billions of dollars in tax incentives and subsidies to private companies.

These giveaways persist even when those companies benefit from child labor law violations. A bill to restrict taxpayer money from going to child labor law violators came up just short in 2025. Alabama Arise and our partners will advocate to get this important legislation across the finish line next year.

Alabamians labor in a state where numerous employment practices and policies prevent many of them from building stability and improving their overall well-being. More than 1 in 5 Alabama workers (22%) are paid less than $15 per hour. That is a poverty wage for a family of four and less than half of what that family needs to thrive. Alabama’s workers also make less, even after adjusting for lower cost of living, than workers in Rust Belt states like Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

These anti-worker policies are enforced statewide even when some localities are open to requiring good jobs and worker protections. Alabama cities and counties are heavily preempted by state law. The state bans local governments from enforcing worker protections like fair scheduling, minimum wages, breaks and a host of other job quality safeguards.

The shortcomings of Alabama’s low-road economic development model reach far beyond employers’ failure to pay adequate wages. Southern workers broadly have less access to paid leave than other workers. And though teachers and state employees now have paid parental leave protections, Alabamians working in the private sector still have no such protections under state law.

Alabama’s workers are essential, not disposable

Despite advancements, Alabama workers still lack guaranteed paid sick leave, caregiving leave, domestic violence leave and bereavement leave. With the state shutting the door on local efforts to give workers a square deal by preempting any local legislation to improve conditions for workers, lawmakers have funneled the fight for decent treatment through legislation into the State House – and even more so into communities and workplaces themselves. Organizing campaigns remain the primary vehicle for workers to protect themselves and ensure a brighter future for their families.

Hostility to workers has left Alabama’s workers significantly behind across the board. And this mindset unfortunately is not limited to our state. Other Southern states have passed policies that restrict community benefits agreements, which improve aspects of the communities where corporate facilities are located. These shortsighted efforts are largely indefensible, but Alabama’s workers still are likely to face attempts to pass the same policies here. Efforts like these can make workers more reluctant to stand up for their rights when bosses abuse them.

The low road to economic development doesn’t make sense. The people who do the work in Alabama are essential, not disposable. Without a thriving working class, the economy grinds to a halt. Our state’s traditional top-down economic model is a key reason why Alabama’s outcomes fall measurably short in important areas like earnings, health care and educational attainment.

A better path forward is available for Alabama. This Labor Day, state decision-makers should dedicate themselves to building a worker-focused economy built on raising the well-being of all Alabamians, not just those at the top.

¡Hemos mejorado vidas en toda Alabama!

By Alabama Arise

La sesión legislativa de 2025 se terminó oficialmente, y fue atareada y productiva. El personal, los socios y los miembros de Arise trabajaron arduamente para mejorar la vida de gente que llega justo a fin de mes, mientras se protegían también los derechos de los alabamienses atacados por personas con agendas políticas retrógradas.

Hicimos un gran progreso hacia una Alabama mejor y más inclusiva. Y, aunque no ganamos todas las batallas, juntos nos mantuvimos firmes para quienes son más vulnerables. Militamos con éxito por leyes nuevas que mejorarán vidas. Estas políticas harán lo siguiente:

  • Hacer más asequibles los productos básicos para todos los alabamienses al reducir el impuesto estatal a los alimentos (¡otra vez!)
  • Aumentar el acceso a los alimentos en las escuelas al asegurar mayor financiación en nuestro presupuesto educativo para programas de desayuno gratuito en las escuelas públicas.
  • Facilitar que las personas embarazadas en Alabama obtengan pruebas prenatales al quitar obstáculos relacionados con la regla de “elegibilidad presunta” de Medicaid.
  • Asegurar que más padres y madres puedan atender a sus nuevas familias al asegurar una nueva política de licencia por maternidad/paternidad para maestros, trabajadores de programas universitarios de dos años y empleados estatales.
  • Disminuir el costo de vida para las familias al eliminar los impuestos de venta estatales para artículos esenciales como pañales, suministros para bebés, productos de higiene menstrual y ropa de maternidad.

La lucha no termina aquí. Debemos aprovechar esta energía a medida que nos dirigimos a la sesión de 2026. ¡Visite alarise.org para sumarse a la lucha y hacer oír su voz!