Issue: Other Issues

Alabama Arise 2026 legislative priorities

By Alabama Arise

More than 150 Alabama Arise member groups and nearly 2,000 individual members choose our legislative priorities each year. This process ensures that Alabamians most impacted by poverty have a seat at the table. Below are the priorities that our members selected for 2026.

For a PDF version of this document, click here or click the “Download” button above.

Health equity –Alabama should save lives, create jobs and protect rural health care by closing the Medicaid coverage gap and improving access to high-quality maternity care.

Hunger relief – Alabama should help families thrive by ensuring all public schools can offer free school meals for all of their students and by protecting vital nutrition programs.

Adequate state budgets – Strong public services broaden opportunity for all. Alabama should protect funding for public schools and invest in affordable housing and public transportation.

Inclusive democracy – Everyone deserves a say in our democracy. Alabama should allow no-excuse absentee voting and lift barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised people.

Justice reform – Alabama’s justice system should focus on rehabilitation, not cruelty. Our state should stop executing people sentenced to death against a jury’s recommendation. Alabama also needs to reform parole and sentencing.

Tax reform – A more equitable tax system can help struggling people make ends meet. Alabama should untax groceries and ensure fair, sustainable funding for vital services.

Worker power – Alabama should support working people by removing tax incentives from companies that violate child labor laws, extending paid parental leave to more workers and improving safeguards for temp workers.

Alabama coalition to lawmakers: Keep TVA public, affordable and accountable

By Whitney Washington

State and federal lawmakers should oppose any efforts to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a broad coalition of 43 Alabama organizations wrote in a joint letter released Tuesday. The groups warned that privatization would raise energy costs, eliminate good jobs, weaken environmental protections and strip the public of its voice in decisions about the region’s energy future.

“TVA has been one of the most transformative public investments in our state’s history,” the letter reads. “Privatization would put that at risk, leading to higher energy bills, fewer protections for consumers, loss of good union jobs and more pressure to cut corners on safety and environmental stewardship.”

Two utility workers smile while wearing orange helmets and orange and yellow vests. Text above the photo: "Alabama Arise news release: Alabama coalition to lawmakers: Keep TVA public, affordable and accountable."

More than 40 organizations signed the letter, including labor unions, civic organizations, faith groups and nonprofits across Alabama. Read the full letter here.

“At Alabama Arise, we believe in public systems that are transparent, accountable and responsive to everyday people,” said Adam Keller, Alabama Arise’s Worker Power Campaign director. “Public power through TVA has kept energy reliable, affordable and accountable to Alabamians for generations, reducing poverty and expanding opportunity across the region. The public deserves a voice in decisions about our energy and environment, and we stand united in opposing any threats to this vital lifeline for our communities.”

Background

Created in 1933 as part of the New Deal, the Tennessee Valley Authority is the nation’s largest public power provider, serving nearly 10 million people across seven states. TVA’s mission extends beyond electricity: It also supports economic development, environmental stewardship and disaster response.

“TVA was originally created because the private sector failed rural America,” said Daniel Tait, executive director of Energy Alabama. “Turning TVA over to private, for-profit interests would mean higher electricity rates, destruction and loss of access to outdoor recreation areas, and other devastating consequences for families and businesses across the Tennessee Valley.”

TVA privatization proposals have surfaced repeatedly in Washington. Alabama stakeholders warn the costs would fall hardest on working families and vulnerable communities.

The broad array of groups opposing privatization “reflects the diverse voices of workers, community members, faith groups and environmental advocates across the state,” the joint letter reads. “While we come from different sectors and perspectives, we are united in calling for action to protect our communities.”

Next steps

The coalition is calling on Alabama’s congressional delegation and state elected leaders to issue clear, public statements opposing TVA privatization. The groups say they will continue organizing to ensure TVA remains publicly owned and accountable to the people of Alabama.

“TVA’s union workforce is the backbone of our energy system, providing safe, skilled jobs that support families and communities,” said Ray Dawson, business manager of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 366. “Privatization would wreck those jobs and the local economies they sustain.”

Read the groups’ full letter here.

Alabama Arise, 42 partner groups ask lawmakers to stand strong against TVA privatization

By Alabama Arise

Proposals to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) have surfaced repeatedly in recent years. Alabama Arise joined 42 partner groups in a letter urging Alabama’s congressional delegation and state elected officials to speak out in opposition to efforts to privatize TVA and to keep energy reliable, affordable and accountable to Alabamians. The full text of the letter is below.

Letter text

Dear Elected Leaders,

We, the undersigned organizations, stand united in strong opposition to any efforts to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). As Alabamians, we know firsthand that TVA has been one of the most transformative public investments in our state’s history: powering our homes and businesses, creating good-paying union jobs and protecting the natural resources that make our region special.

For more than 90 years, TVA has provided reliable, affordable electricity to communities across the Tennessee Valley while reinvesting in local economies. Its public, nonprofit structure keeps decision-making more accountable to the people it serves, not to distant investors. Privatization would put that at risk, leading to higher energy bills, fewer protections for consumers, loss of good union jobs and more pressure to cut corners on safety and environmental stewardship.

TVA is more than a power provider. It is a cornerstone of our economy and quality of life. Its skilled, unionized workforce sustains families and communities across Alabama. Its low rates and dependable service help small businesses grow and attract new industry. Its stewardship of our rivers, lands and recreational areas protects our health and supports our way of life. These are benefits worth protecting, regardless of political affiliation or background.

Our coalition reflects the diverse voices of workers, community members, faith groups and environmental advocates across the state. While we come from different sectors and perspectives, we are united in calling for action to protect our communities.

We urge you, as Alabama’s elected leaders, to speak out clearly and unequivocally against any proposal to privatize TVA in whole or in part. The people of Alabama deserve to keep this vital public asset in public hands, where it can continue to serve the public good for generations to come.

We stand ready to work together to protect the Tennessee Valley Authority – for our workers, our customers, our environment and our shared future.

Signatories

Sincerely,

  1. Alabama Arise
  2. Alabama Building Trades
  3. Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice
  4. Alabama Forward
  5. Alabama Poor People’s Campaign
  6. Bay Area Women’s Coalition, Inc.
  7. Central Alabama Labor Federation
  8. Community Enabler
  9. CWA Local 3905
  10. CWA Local 3908
  11. District Eight Organizing Committee, LiUNA
  12. Energy Alabama
  13. Faith in Action Alabama
  14. First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Montgomery
  15. Flint River Conservation Association 
  16. Greater Birmingham Ministries
  17. Huntsville Environmental Coalition
  18. Interfaith Mission Service
  19. International Chemical Workers Union Council of the UFCW
  20. International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
  21. Ironworkers Local 477
  22. Jobs to Move America
  23. Laborers Local 366
  24. National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 462
  25. North Alabama Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO
  26. North Alabama Democratic Socialists of America
  27. North Alabama Peace Network
  28. Open Table United Church of Christ 
  29. Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty
  30. Sand Mountain Cooperative Education Center
  31. Somos Alabama
  32. Southern Poverty Law Center
  33. Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative/BAMA Kids, Inc.
  34. SWEET Alabama
  35. Tennessee Building and Construction Trades Council
  36. The Board of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Huntsville
  37. The Sisters 
  38. Thrive Alabama
  39. Together for Hope
  40. United Campus Workers – Alabama (CWA Local 3821)
  41. United for a Fair Economy
  42. United Steelworkers Local 9-265
  43. United Women of Color

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

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

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

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

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

How we will build on this success

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

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

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

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

By Dev Wakeley

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

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

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

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

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

Even against a stacked deck, improvement is possible

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

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

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

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

Job quality in Alabama is persistently low

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

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

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

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

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

Alabama’s workers are essential, not disposable

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

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

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

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

New paid parental leave law improves life for Alabama workers

By Chris Sanders

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.”

Federal workers are vital to Alabama’s economy

By Dev Wakeley

Federal workers help keep our food, workplaces and environment safe. Thousands carry out critical missions like weather forecasting, disaster relief and medical care. Federal employees and their families are our neighbors who live, work and send their children to schools across Alabama.

But waves of firings in recent weeks have targeted federal employees who serve Alabamians in every sector of society. In some of our communities with the best growth rates and highest standards of living, such as Huntsville and Madison, federal workers are the primary driver of recent economic improvements and quality-of-life gains throughout the region.

Who are Alabama’s federal workers?

The federal workforce consists of roughly 3 million employees. The vast majority of them (98.4%) live in the states, outside the District of Columbia.[1] Here are a few facts about federal workers in Alabama:

  • Alabama is home to 62,000 federal workers, about 3% of the state’s total non-farm employment.
  • This makes the federal government a larger employer in Alabama than UAB, Amazon and Mercedes combined.
  • Some of our state’s most rapidly growing metro areas depend heavily on federal workers. More than 1,800 workers live in Enterprise, accounting for 8.2% of total metro area employment. And an astronomical 17,135 federal workers live in Huntsville, or 6.7% of all workers in the metro area.
  • Federal employers in Alabama include the U.S. Postal Service, Department of Agriculture, Social Security Administration, Department of Defense and many other agencies.

Attacking federal employees means cutting Alabama jobs, services and expertise 

Federal employees carry out missions that underpin our entire economy, and they do jobs that require specific experience and training. For example, Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville is the linchpin of the country’s aerospace and defense industries, and NOAA’s weather operations save lives every year when hurricane and tornado seasons hit Alabama.

On average, federal employees have more experience and education than members of the workforce at large:

  • More than 42% of federal workers are over age 50, compared to 33% of the overall workforce.
  • Nearly 50% of federal employees have been in public service for more than a decade.
  • More than half (55%) of federal employees have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 40% of the overall workforce.

Attacking federal employees means attacking many veterans, women and people of color 

The federal workforce is very diverse, both in Alabama and nationwide. This is due to many factors, including strong equal employment policies, union contracts guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, and programs to recruit people who have completed military service.

Historically, federal employment has offered important opportunities to women and workers of color. In many states, federal jobs have played a central role in building the Black middle class. Here are a few facts about the demographics of the federal workforce.

  • In Alabama, 31% of workers are Black, compared to 19% nationally.[2]
  • Nearly 1 in 3 federal workers (30%) are veterans, compared to only 5% of the overall workforce.
  • More than 1 in 5 federal workers (21%) are disabled, compared to the overall U.S. disability rate of 5%. Many of these workers with disabilities are veterans.[3]
  • Black workers make up 19% of the federal workforce, compared to 13% of the overall workforce.
  • About 1.6 million federal workers, including postal workers, are represented by a union (roughly 53%), compared to only 11.1% of the overall workforce.

Alabama’s federal workers are standing up against illegal attacks to defend critical services

Many of Alabama’s federal workers and their unions are challenging illegal firings and funding freezes. And they are doing so while still maintaining vital services and defending their obligations to the public and the Constitution. When you speak to your U.S. representative or senator’s office, please let them know the facts about how much federal workers mean to the economic well-being of Alabama and all of our people.

[1] The 3 million workers include postal workers, and the share of workers living in states is based on the residency of federal workers. Other sources, such as FedScope, produce similar statistics, though FedScope uses the employers’ location and excludes postal workers.

[2] Demographic data are for the federal workforce excluding postal employees.

[3] Disabilities in the workforce are self-reported, so this number may be undercounted.

Paid parental leave improves life for Alabama workers

By Dev Wakeley

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.

Remove tax incentives for companies that break child labor laws in Alabama

By Dev Wakeley

Overview

Companies that accept public money through economic development incentives should be held accountable when breaking laws that protect workers. 

But because Alabama’s historical development model caters to big companies at the expense of workers, consequences for bad actors are too light. 

The state’s development philosophy is heavy on tax breaks and light on accountability for companies that accept them.

These tax incentives can climb to hundreds of millions of dollars per company. But policymakers too often don’t demand good wages, fair treatment of workers, or worker input into decisions when handing out incentives. 

Further, the state doesn’t take public money away when companies and their subsidiaries break labor laws, including laws that prohibit employing children in dangerous work.

The scourge of child labor violations in Alabama

Child labor scandals have plagued the state recently, and the number of children illegally employed nationally has increased significantly in recent years. Bad employers often seek out cheap labor to maximize profits, and that profit-above-all mentality can result in worker abuses.

In 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor sued multiple companies in the Hyundai supply chain for violations occurring at a facility in Luverne. The lawsuit alleged that Hyundai, its subsidiary SL Alabama and temporary worker agency Best Practice Service jointly employed a 13-year-old to work 60-hour weeks in auto manufacturing. 

Hyundai received more than a quarter of a billion dollars in tax incentives for the initial plant buildout, and the company has received millions more since then in expansion incentives.

At the same time Alabama has refused to force accountability on companies for breaking child labor laws, the state has stripped incentive eligibility from companies that voluntarily recognize unions. 

Many lawmakers voted to strip incentives from companies that choose to support workplace democracy. But the Legislature so far has not extended the same financial consequences for companies that break child labor laws.

Hyundai’s supply chain is not alone in violations of child labor laws. Alabama’s agricultural industry, particularly chicken processing plants, has a recurring problem with employers exploiting child labor in dangerous work settings. 

And child labor violations can be deadly for workers victimized by bad employers. As one example, Apex Roofing paid a $117,175 fine in 2024 after a 15-year-old boy in Cullman County fell to his death on his first day illegally working to install a roof on an industrial building.

Not all companies with child labor problems have gotten generous state incentives like Hyundai has received. But common sense dictates that Alabama shouldn’t be using public money – much of which ironically is diverted from the Education Trust Fund – to subsidize companies that illegally employ children in dangerous work.

How Alabama lawmakers can fix this problem

SB 22, sponsored by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, would be an important step toward corporate accountability in Alabama. This bill would allow removal of tax incentives from companies that violate either state human trafficking laws or child labor provisions in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

This bill would provide an important enforcement avenue for basic standards of human decency from employers and important protections for Alabama’s children.

Bottom line

Companies that break child labor laws shouldn’t receive public money while they’re doing so. The people of Alabama deserve good jobs and responsible employers. Economic development does not require that we accept bad actor companies taking dangerous, illegal shortcuts. Bad employers harm their workers and the overall economy, and they shouldn’t be rewarded for exploitative business practices.

SB 22’s removal of tax incentives from child labor law violators would help protect Alabama children from dangerous economic exploitation. And it would force companies to act more fairly toward workers and communities across our state.

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

By Alabama Arise

By Carol Gundlach, senior policy analyst, and LaTrell Clifford Wood, hunger policy advocate | January 2025

Overview

Alabama can and should do more to equip our children and our schools for success. One big step would be to provide school breakfast for all our children. And our lawmakers can make major progress toward that goal this year with a modest allocation from the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget.

Alabama Arise is recommending an ETF appropriation of $16 million to support public schools, including public charter schools, that wish to provide breakfast to all their students. 

From this amount, each of the 1,459 Alabama schools participating in the National School Lunch Program would be eligible to receive a $5,000 base grant to upgrade their food service capacities.

The remaining $8.7 million could be distributed to eligible schools to bring their breakfast service reimbursements to the maximum possible federal level.

The benefits of school breakfast

Children who start the day with breakfast learn better, participate more in class and are less likely to skip school than are kids who don’t get breakfast. But tight family budgets, busy mornings and before-daylight bus routes can mean many children arrive at school hungry. School districts across the country have found that breakfast for all children, served after the first bell, reduces hunger and helps kids learn.

It’s time for Alabama’s school districts to join their peers nationwide in feeding breakfast to all of our kids. Here are just a few of the benefits:

School breakfast reduces child hunger across our state. In Alabama, 23% of school-age children are food insecure, meaning they do not always have enough to eat or know when they will get their next meal. That rate is even higher among children of color. School breakfast could guarantee a morning meal for all Alabama children during the school day. School breakfast for all kids also allows schools to experiment with food delivery services like grab-and-go kiosks or breakfast in the classroom that increase participation and make sure kids are ready to start the day.

School breakfast reduces chronic absenteeism. Nearly 1 in 5 Alabama children have been chronically absent from school, and 53% of Alabama schools have high absenteeism rates. Research has shown that students who get breakfast at school have improved attendance and decreased tardiness, according to the Food Research and Action Center. 

School breakfast improves standardized testing and math scores. Alabama ranks 48th in average math ACT scores. Academic achievement improves, especially for math, when breakfast is available for school-age children.

School breakfast reduces behavioral problems. Child hunger contributes to impulsivity, hyperactivity, irritability, aggression, anxiety and substance abuse, according to the National Institutes of Health. Reducing hunger would reduce these behaviors.

How Alabama lawmakers can help feed children

The Alabama Legislature can help schools offer school breakfast for all children.  The Legislature can help feed Alabama’s schoolchildren by appropriating ETF dollars to match federal funds for school breakfast. Schools that choose to offer breakfast to all their children can use these matching funds to give all their students breakfast at the start of the school day. Thirty-five other states are considering similar legislation, and eight states have approved some form of school meals for every child.

How is school breakfast funded now? Many schools already provide breakfast for all children, but other schools need state help. Some Alabama schools offer breakfast to income-eligible children under the traditional federal School Breakfast Program, administered by the Alabama State Department of Education. 

Schools with a significant number of low-income children can receive the maximum federal reimbursement for all meals served. But some Alabama schools can’t make the federal reimbursement rate work for them without additional state or local dollars. And some Alabama schools would like to offer breakfast for all their children but don’t want to deal with federal regulations that might impact their Title 1 distribution to local schools.

Bottom line

Providing school breakfast at all public schools would be an important step to improve child nutrition and student success. An ETF budget appropriation of approximately $16 million would allow Alabama schools to be made whole if they can’t receive the maximum federal reimbursement for these meals. This support for school breakfast for all would help children grow, thrive and learn across Alabama.