Arise legislative update: Week of April 7, 2025

Arise’s Carol Gundlach highlights a significant win from the 2025 legislative session: the enactment of paid parental leave for teachers and state employees, a top priority for Alabama Arise. This legislation represents a major advancement for parental and infant health.

Arise also continued to oppose harmful proposals last week, including junk health plans and bills that would impose barriers to Medicaid coverage and SNAP food assistance. Carol discusses how these state-level efforts are unfolding amid ongoing federal funding threats to these essential services.

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!

Full transcript:

Hello, this is Carol Gundlach, senior policy analyst at Alabama Arise. Last week was a really hectic week at the Alabama Legislature, and we expect a similarly busy week this coming week.

The good news is that the paid parental leave bill, a top Alabama Arise priority, was passed by the Legislature last week and signed by the governor. This was a major victory for parental and newborn health, a model for other Southern states on workers’ rights. So we are very proud to have gotten this bill passed.

We also spent a lot of time last week speaking against some very bad bills at the Alabama Legislature. This included a junk insurance bill that was considered by the House Health Committee and two bills that would have placed administrative barriers on access to health care and food assistance for people receiving Medicaid and SNAP food stamp benefits.

This week, we’re expecting the education budget to be considered. That would include an expected major reform in how Alabama funds education for our most at-risk students. We are also, of course, working hard to make sure that schools that want to offer universal free breakfast for their students can afford to do so. And we are seeking funding to make this happen.

All of these efforts are, of course, happening in the context of federal concerns, particularly around funding and budgets for essential programs like Medicaid, food assistance, school meals and many more federal programs that are at risk for cuts, and that will make our work here in Alabama even harder.

Please check into our Alabama Arise website for both state and federal budget updates, and keep an eye on your emails for action updates. We need to work together now more than ever, so if you are not an Alabama Arise member, please join us. If you are an Alabama Arise member, please do everything you can to help advocate for essential programs at the state and federal level for our people and our members.

Thank you so much, and we’ll talk to you next week.

VIDEO: Alabama Arise Action Legislative Day 2025

Arise held its 2025 Legislative Day on Thursday, March 20. More than 200 supporters from across Alabama joined us in Montgomery to urge their lawmakers to continue to untax groceries and to support a plan to allow every public school in our state to provide no-cost school breakfast to all students. Our supporters also were excited to celebrate the final passage of legislation to provide paid parental leave to teachers and state employees.

Watch this video for snapshots of the event and for highlights from our news conference on untaxing groceries. Thank you to everyone who spoke out for a better Alabama for all!

New paid parental leave law improves life for Alabama workers

A mother holds her baby while the father holds the baby's hand. Both parents are smiling. Text: "Alabama Arise news release: New paid parental leave law improves life for Alabama workers."

Gov. Kay Ivey signed SB 199 into law Wednesday. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, will ensure paid parental leave for new parents who work as teachers, two-year college employees or state employees. The law, which will take effect on July 1, provides eight weeks of paid leave to mothers and two weeks of paid leave to fathers after childbirth, adoption of a child aged 3 or younger, stillbirth or miscarriage.

Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Wednesday in response:

“Paid parental leave helps workers create and grow their families while maintaining their financial well-being. Alabama’s new law guaranteeing paid parental leave for teachers and state employees makes our state a leader in the Southeast. And it is important progress toward ensuring every parent can care for their families without scrambling to pay the bills.

“This new law will enhance the quality of life for families across Alabama. Paid leave will help improve health for babies and families, and it will ease economic stress for new parents. This policy also will improve employee retention for schools and state agencies, and it will help mothers in particular to remain in the workforce.

“Paid parental leave is a common-sense, pro-family policy that will result in a better, healthier future for everyone in our state. Alabama Arise appreciates the leadership from the legislative champions on this issue, Sen. Vivian Figures and Rep. Ginny Shaver. We appreciate Gov. Kay Ivey for highlighting paid leave as a priority in her State of the State address and for signing this bill into law. And we appreciate every legislator who voted for this law and every Arise member who advocated in support of this important investment in healthier families in Alabama.”

Arise legislative update: Week of March 24, 2025

Arise’s Dev Wakeley provides updates from the first half of the Alabama Legislature’s 2025 regular session as lawmakers are on spring break this week.

In good news, lawmakers passed a paid parental leave bill on Thursday! SB 199 will introduce paid leave for new parents who work as teachers or state employees. The bill now goes to the governor for her signature. We also saw important progress on untaxing groceries last week as the House voted 103-0 for HB 386. This bill would reduce the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2%, building on the momentum of the 1-cent reduction that Arise members’ advocacy helped secure in 2023.

Dev also warns that SB 84, which would authorize junk health plans, remains alive at the State House. We need to continue to oppose this bill and advocate instead for Medicaid expansion as a real solution to close Alabama’s coverage gap.

Full transcript:

Hi, I’m Dev Wakeley, Alabama Arise’s worker policy advocate, here with this week’s legislative update.

We got big news this week as more than 200 Arise members got together at the State House to advocate for positive policy change that benefits people who have the least resources in the state. We spoke with legislators all across the state about good bills that we want to see pass and bad bills that we want to stop. And we made some significant progress.

The biggest news from the past week was the passage of HB 327 and SB 199, which are the companion bills that will provide paid parental leave for state employees, for teachers in Alabama’s high schools, and for two-year college employees. These bills are sponsored by Rep. Ginny Shaver in the House and by Sen. Vivian Figures in the Senate, respectively.

This is a first-in-class bill throughout the South. It provides eight weeks of paid leave for mothers and two weeks of paid leave for fathers. It’s available for childbirth, for adoption of a child under the age of 3, and, unfortunately, in cases of miscarriage or stillbirth as well. This is the best in the South by far. It’s a great bill, and we’re really excited to see this pass.

We are going to see it signed by Gov. Kay Ivey. This is one of her legislative priorities, and this is a bill that Arise has been advocating for over a year now. Great to see that pass.

In other developments, we also saw a bill to knock another cent off the state portion of the grocery tax pass out of the House entirely. This bill is sponsored by Rep. Danny Garrett. It’s a great bill. Groceries shouldn’t be taxed, and we love to see this bill moving forward. We hope to see full passage of it.

In unfortunate developments, we’re seeing some movement by a junk health plan that will do nothing to benefit Alabamians and, in fact, will make real change via full comprehensive Medicaid expansion more difficult. That bill, SB 84, is something we’re hoping to stop. We had hundreds of our members speak with their legislators about the need to engage in real change and not allow corporations to paper over the health care problems that Alabamians are facing.

To know a little more about what we’re doing on a regular basis, please follow us on social media. Visit our website, and you too can become an Arise member and advocate for positive change in Alabama.

We’re going to keep working, and we’re going to see more wins just like the ones we saw this past week.

Thanks. I appreciate your time. See you soon.

Arise legislative update: Week of March 17, 2025

Arise’s LaTrell Clifford Wood provides an exciting update about our progress on untaxing groceries in Alabama. LaTrell highlights HB 386 by Rep. Danny Garrett, which would reduce Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2%, saving families an estimated $122 million annually. Thanks to the efforts of Garrett and the Joint Study Commission on Grocery Taxation, we are optimistic about further progress this year.

HB 386 will be up for a vote on the House floor on Tuesday, March 18. Stay tuned for updates, and join us for Arise Legislative Day on Thursday, March 20, at the State House in Montgomery as we continue advocating to untax groceries in Alabama!

Full transcript:

Hi, everybody. My name is LaTrell Clifford Wood, and I’m our hunger policy advocate here at Alabama Arise. Now, I’m sometimes endearingly known as the “Food Lady.” In my role, I sit on the Joint Study Commission for Grocery Taxation, so I’m here today to talk to you all about untaxing groceries.

Untaxing groceries is an issue that Arise and our membership have been working on since the ’90s. Now, Rep. Danny Garrett has introduced a tax package, including HB 386, that further reduces the grocery tax. HB 386 would reduce the grocery tax from 3% to 2% and save Alabama families about $122 million annually.

We are so grateful to Rep. Garrett, who has spearheaded this legislation this session, as well as those who are on the Joint Study Commission for Grocery Taxation, including Rep. Penni McClammy and Sen. Andrew Jones. Their efforts and my own were preceded by former Arise employees and legislators, including Rep. John Knight, current Sen. Merika Coleman, as well as Akiesha Anderson, who preceded me on the Joint Study Commission on Grocery Taxation.

Our members’ advocacy over many years has gotten results on this issue in 2023, and we look forward to and are optimistic that we’ll get more results this year.

Now, where are these bills going from here? Where is HB 386 going from here? The bill will be on the House floor Tuesday, March 18, and we look forward to updating our membership more during Legislative Day on Thursday, March 20. See you at the State House!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finish removing the state grocery tax

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

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

Fund public transportation to improve life for all Alabamians

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

READ MORE – The Alabama Maternal Health Toolkit

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

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

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

Alabama’s death penalty practices remain unjust and unusually cruel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Paid parental leave improves life for Alabama workers

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

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

READ MORE – Paid parental leave improves life for Alabama workers

Paid parental leave improves life for Alabama workers

Overview

We all benefit when new parents are able to dedicate more time to bonding with their children. Paid parental leave is a crucial policy to promote stronger families, and it also helps more people remain in the workforce and continue to contribute to our economy. Alabama lawmakers should embrace the opportunity to ensure paid parental leave is available for all state employees and teachers.

Paid parental leave’s benefits for Alabama children and parents are clear and broad. Babies have better outcomes across the board when their parents can stay with them in the crucial weeks after birth. Fewer babies are born with dangerously low birth weights when mothers have paid leave to address medical issues throughout pregnancy. Paid leave also cuts the risk of rehospitalization in half for mothers and infants following birth.

From an economic perspective, paid leave also makes sense for employers because it reduces employee turnover. This policy can help employers save the equivalent of 50% to 200% of a worker’s salary on hiring and training a new worker to replace one who otherwise might have to quit to meet caregiving duties. Paid parental leave is a common-sense, pro-family policy that will result in a better, healthier future for all of us across Alabama.

Paid parental leave is growing across the South

Since 2020, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee have implemented paid parental leave for new groups of public-sector workers. After enactment, Georgia doubled its initial parental leave duration. Municipalities, too, are beginning to recognize the benefits of paid leave for workers. Birmingham implemented 12-week paid parental leave coverage for its city employees in 2023.

These steps forward contribute greatly to better quality of life for the workers covered by the new policies. Paid parental leave eases economic stresses for new parents and helps mothers in particular to remain in the workforce.

Beyond the benefits to workers, state agencies also benefit from providing paid parental leave. Workers who have more stable economic situations and feel valued as people are less likely to leave a job. And employee churn is expensive for agencies. The average cost of replacing a worker is between six and nine months’ salary. For technical employees, filling an open position can cost employers double the worker’s salary.

Great momentum for paid parental leave in Alabama

Alabama has an opportunity to take the same step forward as many of our neighboring states. Bills to provide parental leave for both state employees and teachers made significant progress in the 2024 legislative session. Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, sponsored a bill that passed the House and came one step from Senate passage last year. Shaver will file the bill again in 2025. As introduced, this bill would provide eight weeks of paid parental leave for state employees, covering childbirth and adoption.

Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, sponsored a bill to provide 12 weeks of paid leave for teachers in 2024. This bill won Senate committee approval, and it was combined with the state employees’ bill on the Senate floor before time ran out on the last day of the session to iron out details and secure passage. Covering teachers is important with regard to retention because better compensation policies can overcome some of the factors that contribute to teachers leaving the profession.

Best practices for paid parental leave in Alabama

Alabama has an opportunity to implement a paid leave policy that will lead the South. A first-class parental leave policy should meet these standards to ensure the highest benefit to both workers’ quality of life and agencies’ retention rates:

  • Sufficient duration. At least 12 weeks of parental leave at full replacement rate should be available to workers.
  • Broad coverage. Both parents should be covered to support bonding and recovery of both mothers and infants.
  • Flexibility. Workers should be able to use parental leave at a time they decide would best benefit their families in the first year of a child’s life.
  • Inclusivity. Workers should be able to use parental leave for adoptions, childbirth, long-term foster care and new family caregiving duties.
  • Availability after adverse outcomes. Leave should be available in case of a child’s death during the first year or of a miscarriage after the first trimester.

Bottom line

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

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

Alabama voted. Now let’s organize for a better state

The State Capitol in Montgomery.

Alabama Arise and our members have worked for more than 35 years to push for state policies that improve the lives of people struggling to make ends meet. We advocate for policies to build an Alabama where everyone has the resources they need to reach their full potential. And we’ve always remained steadfast in this mission and our values, regardless of who holds public offices at any given time.

On Tuesday, Alabama voted. So today, we have a clearer vision of what we may face as we look toward the 2025 legislative session in February. The path to dignity, equity and justice for all has always been a long one in Alabama. None of us are strangers to this work, and we’re in it for the long haul.

To make positive change, we must work together. We all must lean into our relationships, communities and networks to find solidarity and grow our collective voice for change. As a member-based organization, we know power is built from the ground up. And Arise will continue our commitment to growing our people power to expand health care access, reduce hunger, reform Alabama’s upside-down tax structure and support working people across our state.

We’re glad you’re with us. Join or support our movement for a better Alabama for all today.

Here’s what Alabama Arise heard in 2024!

Alabama Arise listens because we deeply value the input we get from members, partners and most importantly, 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 two virtual statewide Town Hall Tuesdays this summer, and each featured three to four listening session breakouts. Arise staff either facilitated or were part of 20 additional listening sessions, both online and in person around the state. We engaged more than 500 people in a total of 27 listening opportunities.

Following are direct notes from the town halls and highlights from the other sessions. These notes and highlights are listed under the names of the Arise organizers who heard them.

Town Hall Tuesdays

A better Alabama is possible, July 16

We had four breakout rooms during this session. We asked folks in each group to discuss their thoughts on current issues and to share other priorities they had. Here’s what our organizers heard from participants:

Pres Harris:

  • Death penalty reform. We need to consider the impact that potential new appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court might have on this issue at the state level.
  • Concern about new school choice laws that divert funding from public education. There is special concern in rural areas where there are either no or very limited options to public education for children. Many participants said this is a way to take more money from funding public education. Several participants agreed with the education concern.
  • A sight-impaired participant lifted up education, voting rights and public transportation as key issues impacting people living with disabilities. There is a disparity in education among low-vision students. The disabilities community has been advocating for electronic voting so that sight-impaired people can vote with privacy. And lack of public transportation is a barrier to voting and other quality-of-life activities.
  • Concern about the maternal health crisis and subsequent infant health care needs. We need to improve access to maternal care and health care overall. We need to expand Medicaid.
  • One participant raised the need for people to have legal representation in civil issues like family issues, bankruptcy, school issues, etc. Another participant said the Alabama State Bar might be an ally in advancing such an issue.
  • Public transportation was highlighted again as a need and a quality-of-life issue.
  • In the main session, a participant raised the need to address a variety of veterans’ issues, with emphasis on veteran housing availability.

Stan Johnson:

  • More funding for education programs for children ages 0-3. For a better Alabama, we need to focus on early education. Alabama has a home visitation program called First Teachers, designed to support families at risk for poor developmental outcomes. They use a variety of models, including Parents as Teachers and First Family Partnership. They go and visit families with children 0-3 years of age. Alabama is not putting additional money into 0-3 education. A participant noted that the state budget has included such funding in the past, and he wants to ensure it stays there. We have appropriated a couple million dollars, but Alabama receives more from the federal government than what the state puts in for this service. Minnesota puts 10 times as much money into their program as Alabama. Missouri has universal access to 0-3 education.
  • Kids need to master their social and emotional milestones, and the ability to have a two-way productive interpersonal relationship. They need the ability to modulate their emotions appropriately in a group setting, to have a sense of curiosity and to have a sense of who they are. If they do not get the basic scaffolding in the first three years of life, then all the remediation in the world will not help them get through high school. Efficacy-based programs exist and have proved effective. Alabama is not doing enough about it.
  • A participant said she is a retired teacher and could tell the difference between kids who were read to, loved and cuddled. The first three years make a world of difference. She said this does not need to be a named Arise priority, but it should be addressed.
  • We have picked up momentum with Medicaid, but not nearly enough. Many participants said this needs to continue to be the No. 1 issue. Adequate health care is important for a better Alabama.
  • Participants said they want to help with Medicaid expansion. They understand all it would take is for the governor to sign it and it would be a done deal. They do not understand why people would say they do not want money from the feds. For every dollar we send, we get back $2.17.
  • Participants opposed turning back federal infrastructure money and ARPA money. The argument has no logic.
  • Rural hospitals and departments closed this year, including in Thomasville, Monroe County and Union Springs. What are the governor’s plans to help those areas? Some voters in those areas do not realize that state policies have caused them to lose their health care. We have been saying for years that lack of Medicaid expansion would cause hospitals to close.
  • Some women are now having to drive as far as 90 minutes away to get to an OB-GYN. We can see the harm that elected officials are causing to their constituents.
  • Unfortunately, people do not realize when they vote that they sometimes are voting for representatives who do not seem to have their best interest in mind. We have already lost $7 billion in funding by not expanding Medicaid.
  • One participant said the new teacher certification test is an issue for young or new teachers. What are some alternate ways toward certificates?
  • A participant said Congress should have passed a Medicaid expansion bill, the Save Rural Hospitals Act. This would have helped rural areas to reopen hospitals. The state chose to enhance the port in Mobile instead of providing funding to rural hospitals. The hospitals would have provided jobs and training for RNs, LPNs, CANs and other hospital staff, as well as other jobs once the hospitals opened.
  • We have to educate our decision-makers about looking at cost holistically and not just as a one-time investment. We are losing people due to not investing and not expanding Medicaid.

Adam Keller:

  • It’s hard to begin, because all of the issues are so interrelated and important.
  • Public transportation is so important to access to food and work. Several participants weighed in on public transportation.
  • One participant said crime is out of control and expressed concern about gun safety. They are concerned about gun violence and how Gov. Kay Ivey and lawmakers have loosened restrictions. They emphasized the need for citizen participation.
  • There are false narratives around crime. We need more community-based public safety.
  • A participant brought up the lack of Medicaid expansion, closing of rural hospitals and lack of OB-GYNs. She had a medical incident and only survived because she had immediate attention.
  • A participant said the secretary of state’s salary should be tied to voter registration. They also brought up bicycles as a help for transportation, as well as university bike share programs and bike grants. They said the state needs to grant more paroles and shouldn’t require people to pay a bunch of fees before voting rights are restored.

Formeeca Tripp:

  • It’s important to know the history of Alabama so we can understand the past and where we are going.
  • A longtime Alabama Arise member is eager to keep learning more. He believes the issues proposed are good, and we need to keep focusing on them.
  • One big supporter of Medicaid expansion believes it needs to keep being addressed in the legislative sessions. He also supports the end to the state grocery tax but is lost on “what else can we do?” He also has concerns with gun violence, along with other participants.
  • Another longtime member is a big supporter of Medicaid expansion and believes we need to keep working on the current list of priorities for the next legislative session.
  • Another participant believes payday and predatory lending should be addressed and a priority issue. Transportation, specifically for disabled veterans, is important and needs to be addressed, not just grouped under the general transportation umbrella. She also would like to see gun violence reduction as a priority issue and has a movement called “SWAG – Safer Without A Gun,” to buy back real and toy guns as well as educate on gun safety, conflict resolution and problem-solving skills, especially in underserved communities.
  • Medicaid expansion, transportation and gun violence were the dominant topics in our breakout room.

Building toward a better Alabama, Aug. 6

We had three breakout rooms during this session. We asked folks in each group to discuss what motivates them to act on issues and how Arise supports their actions. And we asked them to indicate their priority issues. Here’s what our organizers heard from participants:

Pres Harris:

  • Participants shared consensus about the need to expand Medicaid to address several health care concerns. These included rural hospital closures, maternal mortality rates in Alabama and support for mental health care needs.
  • Concern for the survival of our democracy with attacks on voting rights was expressed. Public education, affordable housing and public transportation also were highlighted. Several said it is hard to prioritize the current Arise issues, as they are all critical.
  • Participants shared what motivates them to action: hearing the stories of those directly impacted, knowing they are coming together with others to advocate, and the feeling of confidence they get because Arise has helped equip them with information and tools to act.

Stan Johnson:

  • We heard consensus that all the issues are important, and it is difficult to pinpoint which is a priority over another.
  • Jobs to Move America supports everything Arise does and wants to see a clawback of incentives to companies that violate child labor laws (e.g., Hyundai’s supply chain). We want to raise that up for consideration. These kids come from impoverished backgrounds in Mexico/Central America, and they send money back to their families. Sen. Merika Coleman and Rep. Neil Rafferty had a bill last year, and it passed in the Senate and House committee unanimously; we just ran out of time. We need to send these car manufacturers a message. They are working on a strategic direction proposal to submit.
  • We need to continue to grow the communication network throughout the state.
  • Alabama Arise is the most respected organization in the State House.
  • We need to make serious reforms to the state budgets and appropriations so we can take care of the people of Alabama, instead of Mercedes, etc. We do not have money to fund social programs, but corporations are receiving gigantic tax breaks. These are billions of dollars that could have helped the citizens of Alabama.
  • One organization is working on criminal legal reform in Alabama, especially looking at the death penalty.
  • A participant was very upset that Alabama does not participate in programs, and then the same government comes and says we do not have any money.
  • Several participants said transportation needs to improve in Alabama, which also helps people have access to jobs. Transportation is a big topic for people with disabilities. One participant said some of her clients are not able to get to appointments at UAB because of a lack of public transportation. Some transportation directors, on the other hand, do not see the need and want to make further cuts because of low ridership on the buses. Her clients are losing their jobs because of unreliable transportation. Decatur has Ride on Demand, where you must call in to request a ride. It can be a two-hour wait time. There are bus stops on busy roads, so it is dangerous for individuals in wheelchairs as well as able-bodied individuals. These are some of the reasons people do not use Decatur’s transportation system.
  • Another participant from Mobile said she has been working on Medicaid expansion and is glad we were able to get an extension on the coverage for postpartum maternity care. She is pushing health care as the main issue, along with the social determinants associated with health.

Adam Keller:

  • We need more mental health services, which will help reduce prison overcrowding and crime.
  • Alabama needs prison reform, including addressing the prison labor situation.
  • We heard affirmation of our current agenda, including specifically voting rights and Medicaid expansion.
  • We heard discussion of burnout and the importance of persistence (with the grocery tax as an example).
  • Some members shared that they wouldn’t be involved if it wasn’t for our help and said Arise gives them more hope for the state.

Additional listening sessions

This section highlights participants’ input from the 19 additional sessions recorded by the Arise organizing team. In general, all participants strongly affirmed Arise’s work on current legislative priorities. Many thought that Arise should continue to build on momentum it has around some of the current issues. Many also said we need to see more change in the existing priorities. Members seemed to affirm these sentiments, as no new issues were proposed for 2025. These notes lift up the other issues of concern that participants highlighted as we listened.

Pres Harris – Baldwin, Elmore and Mobile counties

Participants in these meetings affirmed the current Arise priorities, acknowledging that our issues are long-haul issues.

Other issues raised:

  • The need to address gun violence.
  • The need for parole reform was proposed by a group of women from the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women who are sponsored by Arise member group Greater Birmingham Ministries. GBM submitted the issue as a strategic approach under the existing criminal justice reform issue.

Stan Johnson – Birmingham/Jefferson County and Tuscaloosa/West Alabama

Most of the participants in these meetings focused on the existing legislative priorities and discussed ways to continue the work toward progress.

A member group planned to submit a proposal for a strategic approach to getting more funding for the 988 mental health crisis hotline that connects folks to needed resources. This is not a new issue, but it would be part of Arise’s permanent priority of adequate state budgets.

Other issues raised: More needs to be done about payday loans, energy/solar power incentives and veterans in crisis.

Whit Sides, Arise’s Cover Alabama storyteller, participated in a session with disability advocates that involved listening to and sharing stories related to intellectual disabilities and neurodivergence/autism. Participants were interested in developing their stories for advocacy with policy and lawmakers.

Adam Keller – Northeast/Madison and Morgan counties

Most of the participants in these meetings strongly affirmed the current Arise priorities.

During further discussion, participants highlighted issues related to public education, child nutrition, paid parental leave and parole/probation reform.

Several conversations centered on how the work of Arise connected with labor and worker power.

Formeeca Tripp – Houston, Lee, Montgomery and Tallapoosa counties

Many participants in these meetings expressed appreciation for Arise’s work around our current issues, especially voting rights, health care and other safety net issues.

Other issues raised:

  • The lack of affordable housing that contributes to issues of homelessness.
  • Legislation that impacted the Black population historically and current laws and policies that lawmakers have passed.
  • Issues that negatively impact racial equity and inclusion.
  • The need to address gun violence and have programs for youth.

How Alabama can build an economy that works for workers

Multi-colored logo of the state of Alabama with the text The State of Working Alabama

 

Labor Day is a holiday where we can reflect on the contributions that working people – and the unions that workers form to build power together – have made to the well-being of all people in the United States. These contributions include overtime pay, a five-day workweek, child labor protections and workplace safety standards.

These advances for working people didn’t come easily. Workers won them through strikes, pressure and solidarity. These advances came in the face of overwhelming opposition by bad employers that would have rather seen their workers die than to win workplace democracy.

And the fight continues. Many steps that the working people of Alabama have won toward better lives for their families are under attack today. In Alabama, workers fought this year against anti-union legislation and a measure to reduce existing child labor protections. And while passing these harmful bills and others, 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 egregious child labor law violations.

These attacks on workers are continuations of longstanding economic strategies of worker abuse in the South. But at the same time officials choose to make life tougher for working people, officials are asking why people aren’t in the workforce.

The answer is straightforward: The Alabama economy doesn’t work for workers. And that’s by design. But we can move toward a better economy with better policy choices.

Job quality in Alabama is low

Alabamians labor in a state where numerous employment practices and policies prevent them from building a stable life 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 the state’s lower cost of living, than workers in Rust Belt states like Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Two people working under the hood of a car with text on the top that reads How Alabama can build an economy 
that works for workers.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. Alabamians have no paid parental leave protections under state law, though momentum is building to fix that problem for some workers. Alabama workers also lack guaranteed paid sick leave, caregiving leave, domestic violence leave or bereavement leave. And the state has prevented local governments from giving workers a square deal by preempting any local legislation to improve conditions for workers, in an extension of policy barriers that limit Black Alabamians’ self-determination and participation in society.

State policymakers prop up employers’ anti-worker strategies by opposing workers’ efforts to build a better economy for themselves. The recent upswell of unionization in Alabama has met with vicious opposition from some officials, including a picketing ban, use of state troopers to support scabs against miners, and a slick, businesslike campaign of officials orchestrated to oppose workers organizing with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Tuscaloosa County.

Officials also have attacked employers who freely and voluntarily recognize workers’ decision to unionize by forbidding those companies to receive economic development incentives. Hostility to workers, coupled with persistent underinvestment in work supports, has left Alabama’s workers significantly behind across the board.

Remove barriers by investing in child care, health care, public transportation

We know workers face specific barriers to workforce participation. The workers themselves and the businesses employing them have said so. These barriers include child care, transportation, housing and medical coverage.

But as our state’s economy has grown less than it would with broader opportunity, officials have made shortsighted anti-worker policy decisions that make life worse for working people and those who depend on them. Even the steps forward have been tentative, lacking in focus directly on the people who do the work to keep Alabama going.

Instead of just providing tax incentives to companies for child care and stopping there, workforce development should include direct investment in child care for workers. Our state’s hardheaded, hard-hearted refusal to expand Medicaid has cost lives and worsens our rural hospital crisis. Alabama remains one of just 10 states yet to close the health coverage gap.

Alabama also has yet to fund the Public Transportation Trust Fund that the Legislature created in 2018. Significant investment in public transportation would help all workers – particularly people working in manufacturing and caregiving, two areas of need where investment would provide rippling benefits for all Alabamians.

These persistent state policy failures bolster an overall economic structure that comes up short on providing jobs where people can thrive or even just get by. By not investing in essential work supports, lawmakers are limiting our state’s human potential and economic future.

Job quality for Alabamians is lower than in many other states. Many Alabamians make less than other states’ residents do for the same work, and that’s the wrong way to build an economy. 

A high road to a brighter future

Alabama’s economic development strategy of removing every guardrail for worker well-being while treating the people who do the work like they are disposable doesn’t make sense. It never has. The top-down model is why our state’s outcomes fall measurably short in important areas such as earnings, health care and educational attainment.

On this Labor Day, state decision-makers should move beyond the low-road strategies that have Alabama spinning its wheels on improving quality of life for the people who keep the state running. By investing in a high-road economic structure that uplifts workers, we can build an Alabama we’re all proud to call home.