Listening is both a value and a process. It is foundational to Alabama Arise’s approach to shaping and advancing policies that matter most to those marginalized by poverty.
Arise depends on what we hear to help guide our work toward a better Alabama, and we want to hear from you this summer. Watch your email inbox for info on summer listening sessions happening across the state. And please contact your regional organizer if you’re interested in setting up a virtual or in-person session!
From our founding, Alabama Arise has been strongly committed to member leadership. Directly impacted communities, our member groups and individuals guide and decide our policy agenda.
Over the years, the way we select this agenda has changed as our work has evolved and as times change. Now we are proposing another change.
The Arise board voted to adjust the way we select our legislative agenda starting this year. We will ask you, our members, to approve this new format at our Annual Meeting on Sept. 27.
We will ask members to adopt seven broad issue categories for the next four years (2026-29). Arise’s bylaws empower members to adopt multi-year priorities, and the first two categories are already permanent issues for Arise. The seven broad issue categories are:
These seven broad issue categories reflect two things. They summarize the specific issues that members have chosen consistently over the last three years. And they reflect the areas where staff capacity and funding resources have been focused in recent years.
The new process will allow members the opportunity to provide input and rank specific legislative proposals under each category. This ranking will be similar to last year’s voting when, for the first time, members ranked multiple bills under the current priorities.
Member groups still can propose priority legislation under each category to be considered for inclusion in our agenda. And we still will ask member groups to present board-approved proposals to the membership at the Annual Meeting.
Member groups can propose priority legislation that does not fit one of the categories or propose an additional category of work during the next four years. Such proposals will be flagged as “provisional issues” as we assess our capacity and strategic approach more broadly. Arise staff will evaluate how the category may fit in with our other areas of work. Then staff will report back to membership about whether we think we can strategically undertake a new broad issue area.
Our organizing team will continue conducting summer listening sessions to get input from members and communities directly impacted by poverty. Please reach out to your regional organizer or me with questions or to set up a virtual or in-person listening session!
Congress is advancing a cruel proposal to take away food assistance, health coverage and other vital services from millions of Americans who struggle to afford basic needs.
Why? To give huge tax cuts to the wealthiest people in the country. The bill’s proposed $1.1 trillion of cuts to food assistance and health care over the next decade would be equal to the amount of tax cuts it would provide for the wealthiest 2% of households, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Congressional leaders are pushing the bill through budget reconciliation, a process that bypasses the Senate filibuster and allows legislation to pass with a simple majority vote. That process is ongoing and fluid. The U.S. House voted 215-214 for the bill in late May. By the time you read this, the Senate may have made many changes, some for the better and others for the worse.
The specifics may change, but the bill’s brutal core will remain the same. It will increase suffering for millions of Americans with low incomes to finance tax breaks for wealthy households and highly profitable corporations.
Alabama likely would feel the worst effects from proposed cuts to food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP helps more than 42 million people nationwide and nearly 800,000 Alabamians put food on the table.
Now, Congress and the White House are threatening those families’ meals in an effort to reduce taxes for billionaires. Three major proposed SNAP changes would have devastating effects on Alabama.
(1) The bill likely would require Alabama to pay hundreds of millions of dollars more for SNAP benefits and administrative costs. The federal government has funded 100% of SNAP benefits for decades. Under the new cost shift, Alabama would become responsible for a projected $258 million or more in direct benefit costs annually, plus an additional $35 million a year in administrative costs.
The General Fund is already facing increasing costs and often stagnant revenues. There is real reason to be concerned that the Legislature can’t, or wouldn’t, commit this money. In that case, Alabama would be forced to cut SNAP benefits significantly – or even eliminate the program altogether.
(2) Congress also is considering expanding SNAP current time limits and work verification red tape for an additional 165,000 Alabamians, including parents with children over age 7. A change of this magnitude would create additional burdens for Alabama’s already stretched child care and child welfare systems. And it could leave thousands of Alabama children and families without food.
(3) Congress is considering limiting future growth in the value of SNAP benefits. Over time, this would reduce benefits for nearly 800,000 SNAP participants in Alabama, including more than 300,000 children, even as food costs continue to grow.
SNAP cuts not only would hurt Alabama’s people. They also would damage Alabama’s economy. More than 5,000 Alabama stores are authorized to accept SNAP payments, and for many, it’s a large part of their business. This is particularly true in small towns and rural communities where retail is a major source of jobs and tax revenue.
Every $1 in SNAP benefits can generate $1.50 in economic activity in local communities, the USDA estimates. Deep SNAP cuts could force layoffs or closures at grocery stores and other retailers across our state. A reduction or loss of SNAP benefits is a threat to our economy and the local communities where we all live and shop.
The bill also would make health care inaccessible or less affordable for tens of millions of Americans, including tens of thousands of Alabamians. It would allow enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to expire, increasing premium costs for marketplace plans.
In addition, the bill would create new barriers that would limit Alabama’s ability to manage its own Medicaid program in the future. For example, the legislation would eliminate the federal incentives set aside to help states like Alabama cover the first two years of Medicaid expansion.
Alabama is one of 10 states yet to expand Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. As a result, nearly 200,000 Alabamians are in the health coverage gap, earning too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance.
The bill also would freeze provider taxes at current levels. This would ban Alabama from increasing fees on nursing homes, ambulance providers and others to fund Medicaid costs – even if legislators find that move necessary to sustain the program or expand coverage later.
It is not too late for us, as Alabamians and Alabama Arise members, to raise our voices against this dreadful bill. Congress is hearing the opposition from people back home, and that pressure continues to grow. The bill’s margin for passage is tight, and only a few votes can make a difference.
Please call on your U.S. representative and senators to say “no” to deep cuts to food assistance and health care. Ask them to focus instead on legislation that advances tax equity and meets essential health and nutrition needs in our communities.
Alabama Arise Workers United (AAWU), Arise’s staff union represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), unanimously ratified its first contract in May. This was an exciting development after nearly a year of bargaining negotiations between CWA and Arise leadership. The process began after Arise leadership voluntarily recognized AAWU in 2024.
This contract locks in many benefits that Arise already provided staff. It also includes some powerful enhancements to those benefits. These include pay raises, 20 weeks of paid parental leave and an increase in paid time off.
Arise leadership has built an incredible organization beloved by members and staff alike. This contract protects so much of what is already great about Arise for the future.
What does this mean for you, an Arise member? It means our staff can stay healthy and protected as we fight for those same rights for other Alabamians. It also makes us better advocates, because many of us now have a stronger understanding of the labor movement. As Arise continues to support efforts to build worker power, it’s essential that we support organized labor.
We also hope this news encourages more of our members to consider what unionizing their workplaces could look like. Unions are one of the most effective ways to build power for regular workers – which is most of us.
Arise may not be the typical workplace that comes to mind when you think of organized labor, but let that be an inspiration. Starting a union doesn’t mean you hate your job or your boss. It just means you want more of a voice in your workplace.
Union members ratified our contract unanimously, and we have received nothing but support from Arise leadership. This agreement is just Arise’s next step in continuing to advocate for working people.
Since 2018, Matt Okarmus has served as a communications associate at Alabama Arise. Like many other staff, Matt did not begin his career in advocacy.
After graduating from Auburn University with a journalism degree, he spent eight years in the newspaper industry, working at the Montgomery Advertiser and the Opelika-Auburn News.
Eventually, though, Matt felt the need to look for a change. He consulted his wife, a longtime nonprofit professional.
“My wife had spent years in nonprofit work, and it felt like it would be more rewarding and fulfilling to pursue that path,” he said.
But Matt still has a soft spot for his former career.
“Knowing [journalism] wasn’t for me makes me have even more respect for all those who are involved in providing the news,” he said.
As a communications associate, Matt is responsible for producing videos, assisting with media response and ensuring Arise’s communications team stays connected with our policy and organizing teams. He also serves on the Communications Advisory Committee for the State Priorities Partnership (SPP). Arise was a founding member of SPP, a nationwide network of more than 40 groups advocating for state policies to reduce poverty.
One of Matt’s biggest responsibilities is designing Arise’s quarterly newsletter (both the print and digital versions).
“I genuinely like looking at the puzzle-piece shifting of getting items to fit and pack them nice and neat and in a way that anyone who’s reading it doesn’t find it hard to do so,” he said about assembling the newsletter.
“I feel proud when I see something I’ve worked on out in public and people are looking at it,” he said. “Sometimes in comms work, we feel a bit siloed to our computers, and once we’re done with one project, another one immediately comes along.”
When asked to describe this year’s legislative session in three words, Matt responded simply: “The fight continues.” And to prepare for that fight, he makes sure to find ways to care for himself.
“That mindset was really solidified after my daughter was born. If I’m not taking care of myself, I’m not doing my best job of taking care of her,” he said.
“She can really bring me back to Earth sometimes. If I’m talking about policy issues too much, I can go to her and talk about Disney princesses and Paw Patrol characters instead.”
In Matt’s seven years at Arise, he has seen a lot of changes. Most recently, the staff union ratified its first contract.
“I was intimidated at first, because I had only seen negative things about unions in movies and TV shows,” he said. “But everyone – not just from the union side but from Arise as well – has been incredible about working together and finding common ground.”
Whether through editing and publishing fact sheets or recording video at Arise events, Matt has been able to connect with and learn from Arise’s members, who have provided valuable insight.
“I was humbled quickly about how knowledgeable and passionate our members are,” he said. “My biggest lesson has been to really lean in to what members are saying and realize a lot of them have been fighting the good fight for years.”
Matt encourages members to continue to engage with Arise, in any way they can.
“Show up to an event!” he said. “It doesn’t have to be in person. We’ve transitioned to having a lot of virtual sessions, so there are plenty of places to interact with the Arise staff and fellow supporters.”
The budget legislation that the U.S. House advanced before Memorial Day (the “Big, Beautiful Bill… for Billionaires”) is awful. It would undo progress we have made together over many decades of work.
The good news: The original legislation put forth was even worse. Your advocacy, calls and public actions helped block some terrible policies from moving forward.
More good news: This bill still faces opposition in the Senate, and we have the chance to stall or significantly reduce these harmful cuts. Our actions during June could make a difference in the future of our country for decades to come.
We will provide more ways you can engage in conversations about what these cuts could mean for you and your community over the coming month, as we expect the Senate to vote on this bill by July 4.
By standing together, we can help protect economic security for all Alabamians and future generations.
If you’re like me, you probably have a few monthly subscriptions. You can pay $15 to watch your favorite TV shows or $17 to stream your favorite music. There are also some wacky subscriptions like a regular delivery of socks, coffee beans or pet toys!
We thank you for giving to Alabama Arise, too. You just helped us wrap another successful legislative session. And our work continues: This summer, we’ll be all over the state connecting with people like you!
Will you also “subscribe” to Arise to build a more inclusive Alabama with a monthly gift? Knowing we can depend on your recurring gift will help us plan for the long term and work every day on the goals that members like you set. Of course, we’ll keep you updated on your gift’s impact through things like this very newsletter.
If you already give monthly, thank you. If you’re ready to start, visit alarise.org/donate. Be sure to check the box that says “make my gift recurring.” We also have information about monthly bank transfers.
Thank you again for your continued partnership. If you have any questions, please email me at jacob@alarise.org. I would love to hear from you!
Arise’s Robyn Hyden ties a bow on the Alabama Legislature’s 2025 regular session by celebrating some of the numerous policy wins that our members made possible. These include:
– Reducing the state sales tax on groceries.
– Ending the state sales tax on baby formula, diapers, maternity clothing and other items for women and infants.
– Expanding no-cost school breakfast for K-12 students.
– Ensuring paid parental leave for teachers, two-year college workers and state employees.
– Removing eligibility barriers to allow pregnant mothers to receive Medicaid coverage earlier in their pregnancy.
But now our advocacy shifts. Congress is moving fast to pass a budget bill that would raise costs for health care and food by making devastating cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Join Alabama Arise, Cover Alabama and Hunger Free Alabama in speaking out against these harmful federal cuts. Learn more here: https://www.votervoice.net/ALARISE/Campaigns/126763/Respond
Hi, I’m Robyn Hyden, the executive director at Alabama Arise. Congratulations to all of our Arise members and partners for your work during the 2025 legislative session to secure five key victories for working families.
From further cutting the state sales tax on groceries to more sales tax cuts for women and infants products, expanding funding for no-cost school breakfast for K-12 students, providing our first-ever paid parental leave program for state employees and teachers, streamlining maternity Medicaid access through the Alabama Maternal Health Act, expanding school funding for low-income students through the Raise Act, and finally, successfully defending against further attacks on our safety net — we’ve had a good year.
Unfortunately, looking ahead, U.S. Congress and D.C. are poised to undo a lot of the progress we have made this year to make life easier for working families. The budget now moving through the U.S. House of Representatives will only raise prices for health care and food for millions of Americans who are already struggling. They’re trying to pass this budget out of the House this week before Memorial Day.
To add insult to injury, they’re making these cuts to further cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires. So, together with our partners in the Cover Alabama Coalition and the Hunger-Free Alabama Coalition, Arise invites you to speak out with us — to fight back against these cuts.
Please call your House member today and let them know you’re watching for the vote we expect them to take later this week. Let them know we won’t accept these cuts to hurt families who are struggling just to help people who are doing just fine.
Please check out our legislative digest this week for more ways to take action, upcoming webinars and meetings, our legislative briefing, and ways that you can join us to save Medicaid and SNAP before it’s too late.
Thank you.
Arise’s Chris Sanders takes to the Alabama outdoors to celebrate two huge legislative wins for Alabama families last week. First is the enactment of HB 386, which will reduce the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2% starting Sept. 1. Untaxing groceries has been an Arise priority for decades, and we will continue to advocate to make the grocery tax a thing of the past.
Chris also highlights the enactment of HB 152 last week. This new family-friendly law will end the state sales tax on essential items like baby formula, feminine hygiene products and maternity clothes.
But we can’t stop now. With just one day left in the regular session, we are still advocating for positive legislation on parole reform and increasing our state’s income tax threshold. Get updates and action alerts by signing up for our email list at alarise.org and following us on all of our social media platforms!
Hey, y’all. I’m Chris Sanders, communications director at Alabama Arise, and I’m here with this week’s legislative update. You know, it’s a little overcast out here today, but make no mistake: This is a beautiful day in Alabama, because we are celebrating the enactment of two wonderful pieces of legislation last week.
First and foremost, we are thrilled to be able to say for the second time in three years that the grocery tax bill is now the grocery tax law. HB 386 by Rep. Danny Garrett will reduce the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2% effective Sept. 1 this year. That’s Labor Day weekend, so it’s something to look forward to.
This builds on the breakthrough success that we had two years ago when we successfully advocated for the state grocery tax to be reduced from 4% to 3%. So now it will be cut in half from what it was two years ago. This is great news for families across Alabama who are struggling to make ends meet, to provide food for their families.
And this is a big breakthrough in our work for tax justice, and Alabama Arise intends to continue advocating to untax groceries until the grocery tax is a thing of the past. We should not be taxing people deeper into poverty in this state, and there are better, more sustainable, more responsible ways to fund public schools and other essential public services than to tax people’s food. So we’re going to stick with that issue until the job is done.
In the meantime, we are thrilled to have seen the governor sign that bill into law on Friday. We were also excited to see her sign HB 152 by Rep. Neil Rafferty. This is another great pro-family piece of legislation that will end the state sales tax on a variety of items, including baby formula, feminine hygiene products, maternity clothes, and other items that will help growing families across our state — so more great news.
And we were overwhelmed to see the overwhelming bipartisan support for those proposals. And we are looking forward to continuing to advocate for tax justice in future sessions.
We also are not done with this one yet. There’s one more day remaining this week — day 30 of the regular session — on Wednesday, and there are opportunities to get even more great pieces of legislation across the finish line.
A couple of those are SB 324 by Sen. Clyde Chambliss that would bring some important reforms to our state’s parole board and parole system. Also, HB 389 by Rep. Garrett as well, which would increase our state’s income tax threshold. That’s the level at which families begin to owe income tax in our state.
So both great pieces of legislation, and there are many others as well that we’re hopeful will get a hearing and a vote and passage on the floor before the session ends this week.
So we will speak with you next week after the final day of the session. But in the meantime, we thank you so much for your support — for your shared vision of a better Alabama with us.
If you are a member of Alabama Arise, we thank you so much. If you are not yet but are interested in becoming a member, please visit alarise.org. You can find out about your membership options there. Please sign up for our email list while you’re on our website.
Also, follow us on all of our social media platforms. We are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, so we’d love to have you there.
We need you in our work to change Alabama for the better, and we are getting results for the people of Alabama together. So we greatly appreciate your support, and we’ll talk with you next week after the session wraps up.
So thank you very much, and take care.
Arise’s Dev Wakeley provides updates on numerous key bills as we head into the final days of the Alabama Legislature’s 2025 regular session. This video highlights the progress we’re making on legislation to reduce the state sales tax on groceries, remove tax incentives from businesses that violate child labor laws, reform the state parole board and more.
Dev also celebrates two bill signing ceremonies that Arise staff members were proud to participate in last week. These new laws will ensure paid parental leave for teachers and state employees and remove red-tape barriers to Medicaid eligibility for tens of thousands of expectant mothers. Arise members’ advocacy helped make both of these important new laws possible.
Get updates and action alerts by signing up for our email list at alarise.org and following us on all of our social media platforms!
Expect to move along with it. That’s HB 386 by Rep. Danny Garrett and HB 389, also by Rep. Danny Garrett from Trussville. The grocery tax bill and the standard deduction bill have passed the full House, and they’ve passed their Senate committees, respectively.
HB 386 would remove an additional cent from the state’s grocery tax, and it would also allow localities to remove their portion of the grocery tax as well. So cities and counties that want to cut their grocery tax a little further can go ahead and do that. That was prevented in last year’s bill, and it’s an even further improvement.
The standard deduction bill would increase the amounts of the state’s standard income tax deduction. Great bill as well. We’re hoping to move these bills over the finish line — the last step — and we think we can get there with your support. One more step to send them to the governor and get them passed. They’re great tax improvements for Alabama and would make a more just tax structure.
Additionally, in taxation policy, we have a bill that will remove or allow the state to strip tax incentives from companies that engage in child labor violations. This is SB 22, sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman from Pleasant Grove. Great bill again, and that bill has one step left as well. We’re hoping to get that on the special order calendar and moved forward and passed.
In other good bills, there’s a bill to expand the parole board by two spots — SB 324 by Sen. Clyde Chambliss from Prattville. That bill has one step left as well. It just passed its House committee in House Judiciary last week.
Additionally, we saw last week a couple of signing ceremonies for great bills. For the parental leave bill to provide leave for new parents who are teachers or state employees or community college system employees — that’s SB 199 by Sen. Vivian Figures and HB 327 by Rep. Ginny Shaver.
And we also saw signing ceremonies for the bill to presumptively enroll expectant mothers to Medicaid and to presume eligibility. That is SB 102 by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison from Birmingham and HB 89 by Rep. Marilyn Lands from Huntsville, respectively. Those were great bills. Those have passed, and we hope to move a few of these other good bills over the finish line.
To know a little bit more about how things are developing, please follow us at alarise.org or on social media as well. You can become a member and know all of our action alerts and receive our legislative updates in the email.
Thanks for your time, and hope to see you soon. Thanks.
