“Alabama is the only state that allows judges to impose a death sentence based on a non-unanimous jury sentencing verdict,” Arise’s Dev Wakeley writes on AL.com. “This practice is a travesty of justice, and it needs to stop.”
Category: In the News
New law reduces unemployment compensation in Alabama
“[Unemployment] compensation is so low already in Alabama, people are going to be looking for a job the second they lose one and start drawing unemployment comp,” Arise’s Carol Gundlach tells AL.com. “We don’t need to use those benefits as a stick to try to change behavior.”
Civil asset forfeiture disclosures will soon be required in Alabama
“SB 191’s passage is a good first step toward bringing more transparency to Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture practices,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden tells Bama Politics. “But simply gathering more information about the problem isn’t enough. We must change our state’s forfeiture practices to ensure they protect due process for all Alabamians.”
Medicaid expansion must be part of the solution to Alabama’s prison woes
“We must address the generational impacts of a corrections system warped by chronic poverty, inadequate education and poor health,” Arise’s Jim Carnes writes in The Gadsden Times. “The solution will require both new revenue and broad policy reform. And one essential step is to extend health coverage to uninsured Alabama adults with low incomes.”
Bill would give Alabama payday loan borrowers more time to pay
“Alabama lawmakers from both parties and advocacy groups spoke today in support of a bill to give payday loan customers more time to pay off loans, a change they said would help protect financially fragile borrowers from spirals of debt,” AL.com reported.
At the event, Alabama Arise and Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice released a report looking at the human and financial impact of payday lending in the state. The report also examines multiple policy solutions that would help.
Hot Blast: More reasons to support Medicaid expansion in Alabama
“How can Alabama increase labor force participation and boost its economy? Expand Medicaid to cover those trapped in the state’s coverage gap,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden tells The Anniston Star. “With the right set of early interventions, at least some workers who suffer from untreated and debilitating conditions could remain on the job.”
Editorial: Grocery tax point of shame for Alabama
“There is no bigger proponent of this proposal [to untax groceries] than Alabama Arise, the Montgomery-based nonprofit that advocates for the state’s low-income residents,” The Anniston Star writes. “At its core, it offers a simple solution: eliminate the statewide sales tax on groceries and replace the lost revenue to Alabama’s budgets by ending the state income-tax deduction for federal income-tax payments. That tax break, Alabama Arise says, ‘overwhelmingly benefits the richest households.'”
Alabama Arise pushes for Medicaid expansion
“We’re really excited about the new lawmakers in town and some of our longtime statesmen who understand the pressures that our state health care system is under and the opportunities that our state has to invest,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden tells CBS 42 in Birmingham.
Alabama Arise renews call for Medicaid expansion, tax reform
“About 300 Arise members attended today’s legislative day at the Alabama State House,” AL.com reported. “They filled the State House’s largest committee room for a news conference about ways to pay for the state’s share of expanding Medicaid.”
Medicaid expansion would mean a larger, healthier workforce for Alabama
“The governor and the Legislature should consider the pro-work impact of Medicaid expansion,” Arise’s Robyn Hyden writes in The Daily Home of Talladega. “Our state can’t afford to miss an opportunity to help 200,000 Alabamians re-enter the workforce.”