Arise’s Akiesha Anderson provides an update on two bills we’re watching in the Alabama Legislature this week. We are urging the Senate to support a bill that would end many driver’s license suspensions for debt-based reasons. And we are urging a House committee to oppose a bill that would add harmful and confusing limits to Alabama’s absentee voting process.
Issue: Criminal Justice
Alabama Arise Action Legislative Day 2023
Arise held our 2023 Legislative Day on Tuesday, April 11. More than 100 supporters joined us in Montgomery to hear updates on our policy priorities and urge their lawmakers to untax groceries, expand Medicaid and end debt-based driver’s license suspensions. Thank you to everyone who spoke out for a better Alabama for all!
Vote ‘Yes’ on SB 154 / HB 264 – Sen. Barfoot & Rep. Wadsworth’s bills to end debt-based driver’s license suspensions
Debt-based driver’s license suspensions are harming people and communities across Alabama. SB 154 by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, and HB 264 by Rep. Tim Wadsworth, R-Arley, would ease this burden for thousands of people. Here are four reasons to support these bills in the Alabama Legislature’s 2023 regular session:
95% of the nearly 170,000 suspended driver’s licenses in Alabama stem from unpaid traffic tickets, not dangerous driving.
- Nearly 170,000 Alabamians have their driver’s license suspended not because they are habitually reckless or dangerous drivers, but because they have failed to pay a traffic ticket or failed to show up in court to discuss an unpaid traffic ticket.
- This legislation would provide that an individual’s driver’s license may not be suspended for: (1) failure to pay a traffic fine or (2) failure to appear in court for a post-adjudication hearing regarding a traffic fine.
- This legislation still would keep dangerous drivers off the road in numerous ways. (1) It would allow points to accrue to a driver’s license for each traffic violation. When someone reaches 12 points, they would be considered a habitually reckless and dangerous driver and would have their license suspended. (2) It would allow a court to suspend a driver’s license for failing to appear at an initial court hearing or missing more than one post-adjudication compliance hearing. (3) It would allow a court to suspend a license if the individual misses more than half of their payment plan’s stipulated payments in a year.
- This legislation does not apply to DUIs or people with commercial driver’s licenses.
When someone loses their license, they often also lose their ability to keep or obtain employment. That makes it virtually impossible to obtain the funds needed to pay for their ticket.
- The intent of this legislation is to ensure responsible drivers who have minor traffic infractions but can’t afford to pay the ticket or the payment on time do not lose their license simply because of the lack of financial resources.
- Gov. Kay Ivey aims to add 500,000 workers to the workforce by 2025, but that goal will be extremely difficult to meet when nearly 200,000 Alabamians have their licenses suspended for unpaid debt.
- In 2023, 31% of underemployed and unemployed Alabamians cited lack of transportation as the main reason they weren’t working up to their potential.
Many people whose licenses are suspended for debt-based reasons such as unpaid tickets make desperate choices to clear their debt.
Research shows that:
- 89% had to forgo basic needs like food, utilities or medicine.
- 73% were forced to request charity that they wouldn’t otherwise have needed.
- 48% took out a high-interest payday loan to pay off their tickets.
- 30% admitted to committing crimes like selling drugs or stealing to pay off their debt. So the practice of debt-based license suspensions actually decreases (rather than enhances) public safety.
If the thousands of Alabama drivers who lost their licenses for debt-based reasons had kept their licenses, Alabama would have brought in an extra $277.8 million in revenue over the last five years.
- If the 165,958 Alabama drivers who lost their licenses for failure to pay or failure to appear had kept their licenses – and their jobs – Alabama would have brought in an extra $277.8 million in revenue from income and gas tax revenue over the last five years, according to research by a UAB economist.
- In contrast, the total amount Alabama could bring in if it collected all the outstanding debt owed by these drivers is $144.2 million total. So we’re sacrificing $277.8 million to try to collect $144.2 million.
Vote ‘Yes’ on SB 154 / HB 264 – Sen. Will Barfoot & Rep. Tim Wadsworth’s bills to end debt-based driver’s license suspensions
- 95% of the nearly 170,000 suspended driver’s licenses in Alabama stem from unpaid traffic tickets, not dangerous driving.
- When someone loses their license, they often also lose their ability to keep or obtain employment. That makes it virtually impossible to obtain the funds needed to pay for their ticket.
- Many people whose licenses are suspended for debt-based reasons such as unpaid tickets make desperate choices to clear their debt.
- If the thousands of Alabama drivers who lost their licenses for debt-based reasons had kept their licenses, Alabama would have brought in an extra $277.8 million in revenue over the last five years. We’re sacrificing $277.8 million to try to collect $144.2 million.
Arise legislative update: April 10, 2023
Arise’s Mike Nicholson highlights three criminal justice reform bills that we’re watching and supporting during the Alabama Legislature’s 2023 regular session. This legislation would help modernize our state’s sentencing system, reduce the burdens of high fines and fees, and ease voting rights restoration for many Alabamians who were formerly incarcerated.
Arise legislative update: March 6, 2023
Before the Alabama Legislature returns this week, Arise’s Akiesha Anderson welcomes everyone with an update on an upcoming special session on federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and an overview of Arise’s member-chosen policy priorities for 2023.
Fresh opportunities to push for a better Alabama
The Alabama Legislature will welcome 37 new lawmakers to its halls when its 2023 regular session begins March 7. Alabama Arise sees this as an opportunity to educate new legislators and identify new allies on issues of importance to our members. We urge folks to join us in calling for change, including at Arise Legislative Day on April 11.
Eliminate the state grocery tax
In early February, 11% of Alabama households said they sometimes or often didn’t have enough food to eat. And those hunger challenges are even more severe in communities of color. More than 23% of Black Alabamians and 13.6% of Hispanic Alabamians said they sometimes or often didn’t have enough food.
Untaxing groceries would help families across Alabama keep food on the table. As we have for more than two decades, Arise once again will support bills this year to remove the state’s 4% sales tax on groceries. We also will support replacing the grocery tax revenue by limiting or ending a tax loophole for the wealthiest households. This legislation by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, and Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery, would empower Alabama to untax groceries while protecting funding for public schools.
Expand Medicaid to close the health coverage gap
For nearly 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. Alabama is one of just 11 states that has yet to expand Medicaid. And that inaction has left more than 220,000 Alabamians in a health coverage gap.
Fifteen rural hospitals in Alabama are at imminent risk of closing this year if state leaders don’t act soon to protect health care access. Gov. Kay Ivey should act swiftly to expand Medicaid herself, but the Legislature’s support also will be vital. Arise will keep working to educate lawmakers and the public on the economic, budgetary and humanitarian benefits of Medicaid expansion.
Take bold steps to reform our criminal justice system
Legislators have an opportunity and an obligation to make strides in solving the many problems within Alabama’s criminal justice system. This issue has added urgency as Alabama faces a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit alleging unconstitutional prison conditions.
Many avenues for progress exist. Arise will urge lawmakers to end the practice of suspending driver’s licenses for debt-based reasons. We will advocate for reform of the state “three-strikes” law, known as the Habitual Felony Offender Act. And we will support a bill to require the jury to be unanimous before imposing the death penalty.
Address housing and transportation needs
State House insiders expect the Legislature to go into a special session this spring to decide how to use remaining federal funds under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). From the start, Arise has taken the position that Alabama should use some of its ARPA funds to jump-start public transportation and help thousands find an affordable place to call home.
During the probable special session, we will continue to uplift the need for these investments in the people of Alabama. Learn more at alarise.org/arpatoolkit.
Budget priorities for the people
Two weeks before the Alabama Legislature’s 2023 regular session, lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates packed into the State House in late February for the annual joint legislative budget hearings. One might call it the Super Bowl for budget nerds.
After years of scarcity, both Alabama budgets are starting out with a revenue surplus. There’s $351 million in “excess” revenue for the General Fund, and $2.7 billion for the Education Trust Fund. That’s not even counting the remaining $1.1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds still awaiting allocation.
What we heard at this year’s budget hearings was not surprising. Public services like education, health care, mental health and supportive services need more resources after years of underinvestment. State agencies are struggling with worker shortages and the consequences of underfunding – and understaffing – critical programs. It’s no surprise that lawmakers heard a long, detailed list of opportunities to meet these needs. Most agency heads were clear that new funding can’t fix all of the problems – but it’s a start.
Some lawmakers have floated the idea that this one-time surplus is a sign we need a tax rebate. If that proposal materializes, Arise will be front and center advocating for funds to go directly to low- and moderate-income households bearing the brunt of higher costs. But Arise’s proposal, which comes directly from listening to our members, is a longer-term solution to our upside-down tax code. Our bill to untax groceries would help families keep food on the table while also protecting funding for public schools. It’s a solution that goes beyond just one year to create more foundational and sustainable change.
One concern you may have heard is that nobody has enough workers. Too many Alabamians are still disconnected from the workforce due to missing critical infrastructure investments in child care, public transportation, health care and affordable housing. This year, we’ll be pushing for investments in these supports to help people get and keep work, and to build the healthy and educated workforce Alabama needs.
Our 2023 policy proposals provide that roadmap for change. Expand Medicaid to ensure nobody has to die for lack of preventive care or live in poverty because they have a chronic health condition. Invest in infrastructure to support workers, including child care, housing, public transportation and education. Stop funding public services with punitive fines and fees, and start ensuring the wealthiest Alabamians pay their fair share.
We look forward to seeing you all at our Legislative Day this April. If we continue to stand and work together, we will make significant progress for Alabama.
Alabama’s death penalty system still in need of reforms to end injustices
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Friday in response to Gov. Kay Ivey’s announcement that an internal review of executions in Alabama has ended:
“All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. Unfortunately, the Department of Corrections’ internal review of the state’s execution process did not resolve many of the injustices that remain throughout our capital punishment system.
“The department still needs to pull back the curtains and provide greater public transparency on execution procedures. Legislators must do their part as well to reduce the unfairness of Alabama’s death penalty. An important first step would be retroactively applying the state’s 2017 ban on judicial override, a practice that allowed judges to impose death sentences despite a jury’s recommendation otherwise.
“Lawmakers also should require unanimous agreement from jurors to sentence someone to death. And Alabama should provide state funding for appeals of death sentences, as other states with capital punishment do.
“Our state’s death penalty is broken and should be abolished. Short of that, these policy changes would be important steps to reduce the inequities that pervade capital punishment in Alabama.”
Death penalty moratorium is a chance to end injustices in Alabama’s capital punishment system
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Monday in response to Gov. Kay Ivey’s request for a pause on executions in Alabama:
“All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. Gov. Kay Ivey’s call for a temporary halt to executions is a welcome and necessary move toward ending many of the injustices plaguing Alabama’s capital punishment system.
“The attorney general should agree to the governor’s request. The Department of Corrections should complete the thorough review of the state’s death penalty procedures that Ivey demanded. And the department should pull back the curtains and provide greater public transparency on those procedures.
“Legislators must do their part to reduce the unfairness of Alabama’s death penalty system, too. They should retroactively apply the state’s 2017 ban on judicial override, a practice that allowed judges to impose death sentences despite a jury’s recommendation otherwise. Lawmakers also should require unanimous agreement from jurors to sentence someone to death. And they should provide state funding for appeals of death sentences, as other states with capital punishment do.
“Our state’s death penalty is broken and should be abolished. Short of that, these policy changes would be important steps to reduce the inequities that pervade capital punishment in Alabama.”
Alabama Arise unveils 2023 roadmap for change in Alabama
Expanding Medicaid and ending the state sales tax on groceries will remain top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2023 legislative agenda. More than 400 members voted on Arise’s issue priorities in recent days after the organization’s annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were:
- Adequate budgets for human services like education, health care and child care, including Medicaid expansion to make health coverage affordable for all Alabamians.
- Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and capping the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, which overwhelmingly benefits rich households.
- Voting rights, including automatic universal voter registration, removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians, and other policies to expand and protect multiracial democracy in the state.
- Criminal justice reform, including retroactive application of state sentencing guidelines and repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act.
- Death penalty reform, including a law to require juries to be unanimous in any decision to impose a death sentence.
- Public transportation to empower Alabamians with low incomes to stay connected to work, school, health care and their communities.
- Payday and title lending reform to protect consumers from getting trapped in debt.
“Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for everyone,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our 2023 issue priorities reflect the need to work together to break down policy barriers that keep people in poverty, and that disproportionately harm Black and Hispanic Alabamians. We must build a healthier, more just and more inclusive future for our state.”
The time is right to expand Medicaid in Alabama
One essential step toward a healthier future for Alabama is to ensure everyone can afford the health care they need. Arise members believe Medicaid expansion is a policy path to that destination, and research provides strong support for that position.
Expanding Medicaid would reduce racial health disparities and remove financial barriers to health care for more than 340,000 Alabamians. It would support thousands of new jobs across the state. And most importantly, it would save hundreds of lives every year.
Medicaid expansion would ensure health coverage for more than 220,000 Alabamians caught in the coverage gap. These residents earn too much to qualify for the state’s bare-bones Medicaid program but too little to afford private plans. Expansion also would benefit another 120,000 Alabamians who are stretching to pay for coverage they cannot readily afford.
Alabama is one of only 12 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. But an Alabama Arise poll earlier this year found that more than seven in 10 Alabamians (71.5%) support Medicaid expansion. That figure included 65.8% of Republican voters.
“Medicaid expansion would boost our economy and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Alabamians,” Hyden said. “It’s time for Gov. Kay Ivey and lawmakers to say yes to the generous federal incentives for Medicaid expansion. Making this crucial investment in Alabamians’ well-being now will make our state better for decades to come.”
Why and how Alabama should untax groceries
Alabama’s state grocery tax makes it harder for people with low incomes to make ends meet. The tax adds hundreds of dollars a year to the cost of a basic necessity for families. And most states have abandoned it: Alabama is one of only three states with no sales tax break on groceries.
The state sales tax on groceries brings in roughly 6% of the Education Trust Fund’s annual revenue. But lawmakers have a path available to end the state grocery tax while protecting funding for public schools. Arise will continue to support legislation to untax groceries and replace the revenue by capping the state income tax deduction for federal income taxes (FIT).
The FIT deduction is a skewed tax break that overwhelmingly benefits the richest households. It is also exceedingly rare: Alabama is one of only two states to allow this deduction in full. The FIT deduction and grocery tax are two policies that contribute heavily to Alabama’s upside-down tax system. On average, Alabamians with low and moderate incomes must pay twice as much of what they make in state and local taxes as the richest households do.
“By untaxing groceries and capping the FIT deduction, lawmakers can make Alabama’s tax system more just and equitable,” Hyden said. “This plan would empower more families to keep food on the table while also protecting funding for our public schools. The Legislature should seize this opportunity to make life better for every Alabamian.”