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.
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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.
Expanding health care access and improving maternal and infant health will remain top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2026 legislative agenda. The organization also will continue advocating for state funds to help public schools provide free school meals to every student.
Nearly 600 members voted in the last week to affirm Arise’s legislative priorities. The seven priorities chosen were:
Health equity, including policies to close Alabama’s health coverage gap for adults with low incomes and to protect access to maternity care.
Hunger relief, including legislation to allow more public schools to provide no-cost breakfast and lunch for all of their students.
Adequate state budgets, including equitable public education funding for every student and state funding for affordable housing and public transportation.
Inclusive democracy, including no-excuse early voting and removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians.
Justice reform, including legislation to apply Alabama’s ban on judicial override of jury sentencing decisions in death penalty cases retroactively, as well as improvements to the state’s sentencing and parole systems.
Tax reform to build a more just and sustainable revenue system, including eliminating the rest of Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries and replacing the revenue equitably.
Worker power to advance the health and safety of Alabama families, including legislation to remove tax incentives from companies that violate child labor laws, as well as efforts to extend paid parental leave protections to more workers.
“Alabama Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for everyone,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our legislative priorities seek to empower Alabamians of every race, income and background to reach their full potential. And they reflect our members’ commitment to building a healthier, more just and more inclusive Alabama for all.”
The urgent need to close Alabama’s coverage gap and protect affordable Marketplace plans
Arise members believe Medicaid expansion is a path toward a healthier future where all Alabamians can afford the health care they need. Expanding Medicaid would reduce racial health disparities and remove financial barriers to health care for adults with low incomes. Expansion also would support thousands of new jobs across the state. And most importantly, it would save hundreds of lives every year.
Alabama is one of only 10 states yet to expand Medicaid. Medicaid expansion would ensure health coverage for nearly 200,000 Alabamians caught in a coverage gap. Most of these residents earn too much to qualify for the state’s bare-bones Medicaid program but too little to afford private plans.
The number of Alabamians in the coverage gap could soar in 2026 if Congress fails to renew enhanced Premium Tax Credits for Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. If lawmakers allow the credits to expire, about 130,000 Alabamians would lose their health coverage, and premiums for many others would nearly double.
“Everyone should be able to get the health care they need when they need it,” Hyden said. “Congress must act quickly to protect affordable Marketplace coverage for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians. And our state policymakers need to step up to close Alabama’s health coverage gap once and for all. This investment would pay off in the form of healthier families and stronger economic growth in communities across our state.”
No-cost school meals help Alabama children learn and thrive
Another key step toward a healthier Alabama is to ensure every public school can offer no-cost meals to every student. Hundreds of Alabama schools provide no-cost meals through the Community Eligibility Provision, but some schools cannot participate in the program.
Arise will advocate for additional state funding that local districts can use to match federal funds to offer no-cost meals. Legislators this year approved $17.3 million to expand school breakfast and continue Alabama’s participation in SUN Bucks, which provides $40 in food benefits per summer month for hundreds of thousands of Alabama children.
Stronger investment in school meals is more urgent amid threats to federal funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Alabama and other states could run out of money for WIC in a few weeks if Congress does not renew its funding. And the federal budget law enacted in July will make fewer people eligible for SNAP while shifting more costs to states.
Children and communities across Alabama would enjoy immediate and long-term benefits from no-cost meals in public schools. No-cost meals would reduce child hunger in a state where nearly 1 in 4 children face food insecurity. Extending the reach of school meal programs would help reduce behavioral problems and improve attendance and test scores. Reducing food insecurity for children also can help improve their mental health and overall health as teenagers and adults.
“It’s hard for children to focus in school when they’re hungry,” Hyden said. “Lawmakers should ensure that WIC and SNAP continue to provide food assistance for families across our state. And our legislators should invest in no-cost school meals to reduce hunger and help every Alabama child succeed both in the classroom and throughout their lives.”
By Carol Gundlach, senior policy analyst, and Debbie Smith, Cover Alabama campaign director
While many Alabamians were celebrating July 4, Congress passed a sweeping budget reconciliation law that will hurt families across the country. To extend more than $1 trillion of tax cuts for the richest Americans, Congress slashed health care, food assistance and other vital services for ordinary people.
“It’s wrong to hurt people who are struggling to help people who are already far ahead,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said after the bill’s passage. “But Congress just passed legislation that will do exactly that. This budget bill is not only a moral failure. It’s bad policy, and it is a really bad deal for Alabama and our entire country.”
The biggest cuts nationally will be to Medicaid and to food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Alabama has not yet expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes, but the harmful new budget law will make it harder for our state to improve and expand health care access. And the law’s SNAP cuts and barriers will increase hunger and hardship across Alabama.
SNAP cuts will make it harder to make ends meet
The SNAP cuts will threaten Alabama’s ability to fund essential state services. They also will impose red-tape barriers for SNAP participants and reduce the future buying power of SNAP.
Threats to state budgets: Beginning in 2026, the Alabama Legislature will have to appropriate an estimated $35 million a year in new funding for SNAP administration. Beginning in 2027, the Legislature also may have to appropriate an estimated $172 million annually in new funding to help cover SNAP benefits, which have been fully federally funded for decades. If Alabama lawmakers cannot or will not provide the required state share of funding, the state would have to reduce the number of SNAP participants or opt out of the program entirely. Eliminating SNAP would end food assistance for more than 750,000 Alabamians and send hunger rates soaring in a state where 1 in 4 children already struggle with food insecurity.
Changes that place time limits on more people who receive SNAP: Many older adults, families with teen children, veterans, people who are experiencing homelessness and young adults who were in foster care may face burdensome new work reporting requirements to receive food assistance. And beginning immediately, many people who are legally in the United States as refugees, asylum seekers or victims of domestic violence or sexual assault may no longer be eligible for SNAP.
Changes that likely will reduce the amount of SNAP assistance over time: The new law prohibits the federal government from making substantive changes to the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, on which the amount of SNAP benefits is based. This change will reduce the value of SNAP assistance over time.
Health care cuts will increase human suffering
Reconciliation cuts to Medicaid primarily targeted states that had expanded Medicaid, but the bill also will make it harder for Alabama to improve our Medicaid program. The law also failed to renew subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians.
The laweliminates key financial incentives that encouraged Alabama and other states to expand Medicaid. We no longer will be eligible for $619 million in additional federal funding on top of the 90% federal match, which would have helped pay for the startup costs of Medicaid expansion.
The law also includesrestrictions on provider taxes — a key tool Alabama uses to help fund its share of Medicaid. This will make it more difficult for Alabama to expand coverage going forward and could put a long-term limit on how our state finances Medicaid as health care costs rise.
Congress also failed to renewenhanced tax credits that have made Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) more affordable since 2021. These subsidies have helped hundreds of thousands of Alabamians lower their monthly premiums. Now, those enhanced subsidies are going away at the end of 2025.
The cuts to healthcare.gov tax credits mean that Alabamians’ monthly premiums will increase and fewer people will qualify for financial help. About 130,000 Alabamians are expected to lose coverage because of these changes.
Where we go from here
Arise is taking numerous steps in response to this law’s passage. These actions include:
Analyzing the law’s long-term impact on SNAP, Medicaid and ACA financing.
Creating resources for partners, community organizations and the public to explain the changes and what they mean.
Meeting with state and local leaders to discuss options and ensure they understand the financial and human stakes of these changes.
Even in the face of harmful federal policies, Arise’s commitment to the people of Alabama remains strong. We are working every day to protect access to food and health care and make sure families have the information and support they need.
A new law reducing Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2% will take effect on Monday after being enacted in May. HB 386 by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, also will give cities and counties more flexibility to reduce local grocery taxes if they choose.
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Wednesday about the law’s implementation and what should happen next:
“This is great news for the people of Alabama. The latest grocery tax reduction – the second in three years – will make it easier for every Alabamian to make ends meet, especially in this time of persistently high food prices. Everyone in our state will benefit from this law, and people who are struggling to make ends meet will benefit the most of all.
“The state grocery tax reduction from 4% to 3% in 2023 was an essential first step toward tax justice in Alabama, and this year’s reduction to 2% continues that momentum. HB 386 is another important step toward righting the wrongs of our state’s upside-down tax system, which forces Alabamians with low and moderate incomes to pay a higher share of their incomes in state and local taxes than the wealthiest households.
“Alabama Arise appreciates Rep. Danny Garrett and Sens. Andrew Jones and Arthur Orr for guiding HB 386 through the Legislature, and Gov. Kay Ivey for signing it into law. We’re thankful for the unanimous legislative support on this bill this year. And we’re grateful for former Rep. John Knight, former Sen. Hank Sanders, Reps. Laura Hall, Penni McClammy and Mary Moore, and so many other legislators whose determined work over so many years laid the groundwork for this continued progress.
What should happen next
“The grocery tax is a cruel tax on survival. It drives many families deeper into poverty, and Arise remains committed to the goal of eliminating it entirely. Arise members from every corner of our state have advocated relentlessly for decades for Alabama to untax groceries. And our work will continue until the state grocery tax is a thing of the past.
“Alabama is one of only 10 states still taxing groceries, and we must remove our state from that shameful list. We also must ensure grocery tax elimination doesn’t harm our children’s education in the long term. Education Trust Fund revenues are strong enough now to reduce the grocery tax without causing severe harm to school funding. But history tells us that times of strong revenues don’t last forever. Lawmakers must work together to agree to a solution to untax groceries sustainably and responsibly.
“Arise is open to numerous ideas for replacement revenue, and we will continue working with the state’s Joint Study Commission on Grocery Taxation to find a path forward. We continue to support our longstanding proposal to replace grocery tax revenue by capping or ending the state income tax deduction for federal income tax payments. Alabama is the only state to allow this full deduction, which overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest households. Closing this skewed loophole would protect funding for public schools and ensure Alabama can afford to end the state sales tax on groceries forever.”
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)
Alabama will reduce its state grocery tax once again next month thanks to bipartisan legislation enacted earlier this year. This reduction will make it easier for every family across Alabama to make ends meet.
Alabama Arise staff members were proud to participate in a ceremonial bill signing event that Gov. Kay Ivey held for the legislation at the State Capitol in Montgomery on Thursday. Ivey officially signed the bill into law in May.
HB 386, sponsored by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, will reduce the state sales tax on groceries from 3% to 2% beginning on Sept. 1. The law also will give cities and counties more flexibility to reduce local grocery taxes if they choose. The grocery tax reduction will be Alabama’s second in three years, building on a 2023 law reducing the tax from 4% to 3%.
“Reducing the grocery tax is especially critical in this time of persistently high food prices,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “The grocery tax drives many families deeper into poverty, and Alabama Arise remains committed to the goal of eliminating it entirely.”
Untaxing groceries has been one of Arise members’ top advocacy priorities for decades. The grocery tax is a major driver of the state’s upside-down tax system, which forces Alabamians with low and moderate incomes to pay a higher share of their incomes in state and local taxes than the wealthiest households. Hyden said she was thankful for the years of work that current and former lawmakers put in to make the recent grocery tax reductions possible.
“Arise appreciates Rep. Danny Garrett and Sens. Andrew Jones and Arthur Orr for guiding HB 386 through the Legislature, and Gov. Kay Ivey for signing it,” she said. “We’re thankful for the unanimous legislative support on the bill this year. And we’re grateful for former Rep. John Knight, former Sen. Hank Sanders, Sen. Merika Coleman, Reps. Laura Hall, Penni McClammy and Mary Moore, and so many other legislators whose determined work over so many years laid the groundwork for this progress.”
Finish the job: Arise’s ongoing advocacy to untax groceries
Alabama is one of only 10 states still taxing groceries. Arise has worked with the state’s Joint Study Commission on Grocery Taxation in recent years to explore paths to eliminate the rest of the state sales tax on groceries in a sustainable and responsible way. Arise is open to many options to replace grocery tax revenue, Hyden said.
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)
One plan that the organization strongly supports, she said, is a proposal to replace grocery tax revenue by capping or ending the state income tax deduction for federal income tax payments. Alabama is the only state to allow this full deduction, which overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest households.
“It is important to ensure grocery tax elimination doesn’t harm our children’s education in the long term,” Hyden said. “Closing the skewed federal income tax deduction loophole would protect funding for public schools and ensure Alabama can afford to end the state sales tax on groceries forever.”
La sesión legislativa de 2025 se terminó oficialmente, y fue atareada y productiva. El personal, los socios y los miembros de Arise trabajaron arduamente para mejorar la vida de gente que llega justo a fin de mes, mientras se protegían también los derechos de los alabamienses atacados por personas con agendas políticas retrógradas.
Hicimos un gran progreso hacia una Alabama mejor y más inclusiva. Y, aunque no ganamos todas las batallas, juntos nos mantuvimos firmes para quienes son más vulnerables. Militamos con éxito por leyes nuevas que mejorarán vidas. Estas políticas harán lo siguiente:
Hacer más asequibles los productos básicos para todos los alabamienses al reducir el impuesto estatal a los alimentos (¡otra vez!)
Aumentar el acceso a los alimentos en las escuelas al asegurar mayor financiación en nuestro presupuesto educativo para programas de desayuno gratuito en las escuelas públicas.
Facilitar que las personas embarazadas en Alabama obtengan pruebas prenatales al quitar obstáculos relacionados con la regla de “elegibilidad presunta” de Medicaid.
Asegurar que más padres y madres puedan atender a sus nuevas familias al asegurar una nueva política de licencia por maternidad/paternidad para maestros, trabajadores de programas universitarios de dos años y empleados estatales.
Disminuir el costo de vida para las familias al eliminar los impuestos de venta estatales para artículos esenciales como pañales, suministros para bebés, productos de higiene menstrual y ropa de maternidad.
La lucha no termina aquí. Debemos aprovechar esta energía a medida que nos dirigimos a la sesión de 2026. ¡Visite alarise.org para sumarse a la lucha y hacer oír su voz!
Virginia found a good job and health insurance that meets her needs after moving back to Alabama last year. But Congress is considering legislation that could send health care costs soaring for her and tens of thousands of other Alabamians. (Photo by Whit Sides)
Virginia would say things have been going well since moving back home to Birmingham a year ago – steady even. She said consistency has been key in staying healthy when life takes on unexpected changes.
And Virginia has had to navigate some unexpected changes recently.
After graduating from Mountain Brook High School and attending the University of Montevallo, she got married and followed her military spouse out of state. Virginia became a federal employee on the base where they were stationed, working in health care administration.
One of the benefits of being in a military family was having health coverage through TRICARE. That allowed her to stay on top of her mental and physical health.
“I’ve been treated for depression, anxiety and ADHD since I was very young, about 14, so it’s important that I regularly go to counseling. It’s important to find medication that works and stick with it,” Virginia said. “The reason I’ve done so well with my mental health is because I’ve had access to great health coverage throughout my life.”
When she and her spouse decided to separate, Virginia moved home. Then she learned she had lost her TRICARE health coverage in November 2024.
“I knew I had to be in Birmingham. It’s where I know people. It’s where my family is,” she said. “I wasn’t in the best space emotionally, but I knew if I could make it home, I could deal with whatever was next once I got there.”
Reconnecting with the community
Virginia began her job search the day she arrived back in Alabama. She soon started working at a grocery store. The work was brutal, with long hours on her feet and only 10-minute breaks. But she said she was grateful for the support system that helped her earn money and become plugged into her community again.
“When I told my friends I was looking for a job, so many people were incredibly helpful, and that’s how I heard about the navigators at Enroll Alabama,” she said.
Virginia mentioned to her roommate that she was living without insurance. Her roommate then suggested visiting healthcare.gov to explore the Marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
An enrollment navigator walked Virginia through the process. With her recent income and household changes, together they discovered that she was eligible for premium tax credits that reduced the cost of her monthly health insurance premiums.
“I did a lot of research to make sure the plan I chose covered most of what I needed to cover my regular medications and doctors and everything,” she said. “And honestly, it wasn’t the cheapest plan, but I could afford it now with the help.”
Shortly after Virginia enrolled in her new plan, she received more good news: She was offered a job working at a family-owned office downtown.
“I work at a small local office now, and the reason I could accept that job is because I already had insurance,” she said.
The budget debate becomes personal
Since moving back, Virginia said, she feels like starting over in Birmingham was the right decision. She has plugged into several social organizations and is making an effort to become involved in causes she was passionate about locally.
That’s when Virginia found out the U.S. House recently passed a budget reconciliation bill (HR 1) with proposed health care cuts that might affect her directly.
“I follow the news, and I’ve seen everything to do with the budget bill for a while now,” she said. “And understandably, a lot of the discussion focuses on Medicaid and Medicare, which is a really big issue. But sometimes navigating health policy is hard when I’m like, ‘OK, if Medicaid’s getting cut and Medicare is getting cut, does that include funding for the Affordable Care Act?”
Virginia became more engaged in health care advocacy after attending a town hall that Alabama Arise co-hosted in Birmingham. She urges Alabamians to contact their lawmakers and tell them how proposed health care cuts would harm their families and communities. (Photo by Whit Sides)
Alabama Arise and Birmingham Indivisible co-hosted a community town hall at East Lake United Methodist Church on May 31 in Birmingham. Panelists discussed proposed federal cuts to food assistance and health coverage.
Virginia was one of the nearly 100 people in attendance that day. She heard Debbie Smith, Arise’s Cover Alabama campaign director, break down what HR 1 could mean for Alabamians who receive subsidies to help pay for their ACA plans. For people like Virginia.
“Someone on the panel said that there would be up to 75% cut of the premium tax credits,” Virginia said. “My heart sank, you know? I put my head in my head in my hands and may have literally gasped, ‘Oh, no!’”
How federal cuts would undermine health care across Alabama
The budget plan now moving through Congress would make health care more expensive and less accessible for people across Alabama and nationwide. One way it would do that is to allow enhanced tax credits for ACA Marketplace coverage to expire.
This expiration would cause out-of-pocket premium payments to increase by more than 75% on average for people enrolled in Marketplace plans, according to KFF. In Alabama, that increase would be 93% on average. And in a dozen other states, people would see their premium payments more than double on average. Most of them, like Alabama, have not expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes.
The most significant Marketplace premium increases likely would hit older adults and enrollees with lower incomes, according to KFF. And those higher costs would play a huge role in driving up Alabama’s uninsured rate.
About 190,000 Alabamians would lose health coverage under the proposed new cuts and barriers to Medicaid and ACA coverage. The cuts also would increase the financial strain on many rural hospitals and clinics and ultimately would drive up health care costs for everyone, no matter what type of coverage they have. And all of the cuts would help finance tax breaks for wealthy households and highly profitable corporations.
For Virginia, the health care cuts would be personal. She said she receives close to $300 a month from the tax credits toward her health coverage costs.
“It’s only $3,100 a year, which is not a lot to these people working on the bill, but like, come on, man,” she said. “You’re going to take that from us, when it’s a 75% difference? That’s such a huge deal.”
Speaking out for herself and others
Virginia said she understands that our country needs a budget from year to year. But she said she hopes Alabama’s elected officials reject health care cuts that would harm so many people, including her.
“I’ve been making calls to lawmakers about other issues since before I even knew I was impacted,” Virginia said. “And so now I just start my day by calling [Sen.] Katie Britt and calling [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville. If I leave a voicemail, I call him ‘Coach,’ but sometimes, people actually answer and I have to work through my social anxiety.”
Virginia encourages anyone who might feel overwhelmed by advocacy to take it one step at a time, and to reach out to their lawmakers with their own story.
“I fundamentally disagree with everyone right now who says that it doesn’t matter if you make a call or show up at a town hall,” she said. “Because if we all say, ‘Nothing I do matters’ and we all sit here and do nothing, then we’re really going to be in trouble.”
About Alabama Arise and Cover Alabama
Whit Sides is the storyteller for Alabama Arise, a statewide, member-led organization advancing public policies to improve the lives of Alabamians who are marginalized by poverty. Arise’s membership includes faith-based, community, nonprofit and civic groups, grassroots leaders and individuals from across Alabama. Email: whit@alarise.org.
Arise is a founding member of the Cover Alabama coalition. Cover Alabama is a nonpartisan alliance of advocacy groups, businesses, community organizations, consumer groups, health care providers and religious congregations advocating for Alabama to provide quality, affordable health coverage to its residents and implement a sustainable health care system.
The U.S. House in May passed legislation that would take food assistance away from many Alabamians who are already struggling to afford groceries. A U.S. Senate committee in June approved similar legislation. These cuts would help pay for extending huge tax breaks for the wealthiest households. The bill would target the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the largest cut in its history. People living in rural, urban and suburban areas across Alabama all would pay the price.
This bill would harm people across our state. Here is what’s at stake for Alabama:
Passes the buck for SNAP funding to the Alabama Legislature.
The bill could require Alabama to paybetween 5% to 15% of SNAP benefit costs, which would cost the General Fund an estimated $86 million to $258 million a year. In addition, states would have to come up with additional administrative funds for SNAP, which could add another $35 million to Alabama’s costs. This unfunded mandate could force legislators to reduce SNAP benefits, limit SNAP participation and/or cut funding for other vital services. In a worst-case scenario, the state could opt out of SNAP entirely, ending food assistance for nearly 800,000 Alabamians. That would send hunger soaring and devastate grocers, especially in rural areas.
Takes food assistance away from many families with young children.
Tens of thousands of Alabamians with school-aged children would be at risk of losing some or all of their food assistance. This would result from an expansion of red-tape time limits to parents and other caretakers of children aged 14 and older.
Takes food assistance away from many veterans and homeless people
The bill approved by the Senate committee would deny SNAP assistance to refugees, people granted asylum, and some victims of domestic violence, sex trafficking or labor trafficking. It also would impose stringent time limits on many SNAP participants – including veterans, people who are homeless and children aging out of foster care – who cannot comply with complex paperwork requirements.
Reduces SNAP benefits over time for everyone receiving food assistance.
The bill effectively would freeze the value of SNAP benefits at their current level unless Congress voted otherwise. This would make it harder for families to keep up with rising food costs in years when those costs increase more than inflation.
Updated June 25, 2025, to reflect proposed changes in the U.S. Senate.
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden speaks in support of untaxing groceries during Arise’s annual Legislative Day on March 20, 2025, in Montgomery. (Photo by Julie Bennett)
The 2025 legislative session is officially over, and it was busy and productive. Alabama Arise staff, partners and members worked hard to improve the lives of folks living paycheck to paycheck while also protecting the rights of Alabamians under attack by people with regressive policy agendas.
We successfully advocated for new laws that will improve lives. These policies will:
● Make groceries more affordable for all Alabamians by reducing the state grocery tax (again)!
● Increase access to food in schools by securing more funding in our education budget for no-cost school breakfast programs in public schools.
● Make it easier for pregnant Alabamians to get prenatal screenings by removing red tape around Medicaid’s “presumptive eligibility” rule.
● Ensure more parents can care for their new families by securing a new paid parental leave policy for teachers, two-year college workers and state employees.
● Decrease the cost of living for families by ending the state sales tax on essential items like diapers, baby supplies, menstrual hygiene products and maternity clothing.
The fight doesn’t stop here. We must build on this momentum as we head toward the 2026 session. Become an Arise member today to join the fight and make your voice be heard!
Alabama Arise just wrapped up one of the most successful legislative sessions in our history this year. Life will be better for people across the state as a result – and members like you made it all possible.
Arise members’ advocacy and support pushed legislators to enact numerous laws to reduce hunger and promote healthier families. By the time the Legislature’s 2025 regular session ended May 14, our members were celebrating many important, far-reaching victories:
Alabama will invest more in efforts to improve child nutrition.
Arise got results in a big way in 2025. Now the work continues. Congress is considering deep federal cuts and harsh barriers to food assistance and health coverage. State lawmakers also enacted some harmful bills this year and will seek to advance others in 2026. Through it all, Arise members will keep speaking out for policies to improve life for Alabamians marginalized by poverty.
Major victories for tax justice in Alabama
For the second time in three years, Alabama is reducing its state sales tax on groceries. HB 386 by Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, will reduce the tax from 3% to 2% starting Sept. 1. It also gives cities and counties more flexibility to reduce local grocery taxes.
The law built on the momentum ofa 2023 grocery tax reduction, and it passed the House and Senate unanimously. Energy for this change was high all year: More than 200 people packed the State House in Montgomery to urge lawmakers to untax groceries duringArise’s annual Legislative Day on March 20.
HB 386 will help families keep food on the table and is an important step toward tax justice in Alabama. The grocery tax drives many Alabamians deeper into poverty and contributes heavily to our state tax system’s regressive, upside-down nature. Arise will keep advocating to end the grocery tax in a sustainable way that protects funding for public schools.
Another law to help new and growing families make ends meet is HB 152 by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham. This law will remove the state sales tax on numerous items for infants and parents, including baby formula, diapers, maternity clothing and menstrual hygiene products. The exemptions start Sept. 1 and will expire on Aug. 31, 2028, unless renewed.
New policies for healthier families and children
Arise also advocated successfully for other pro-family, pro-worker legislation. SB 199 by Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, will ensure paid parental leave for public school teachers, two-year college workers and state employees starting July 1. The law will provide eight weeks of paid leave to mothers after childbirth, adoption of a child aged 3 or younger, stillbirth or miscarriage. Fathers will receive two weeks of paid leave in those circumstances.
SB 102 by Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, is another step forward for maternal health in Alabama. The law, effective Oct. 1, will expand presumptive eligibility, allowing doctors and other health care providers to determine Medicaid eligibility for expectant mothers who likely qualify. This will permit thousands of women to receive prenatal care earlier in their pregnancy.
Alabama Arise senior health policy advocate Jennifer Harris (fifth from right) and executive director Robyn Hyden (seventh from right) participated in Gov. Kay Ivey’s bill signing ceremony for SB 102 on May 1, 2025, at the State Capitol in Montgomery. SB 102 will expand Medicaid presumptive eligibility and allow thousands of expectant mothers in Alabama to receive health care earlier in their pregnancy. (Photo by Matt Okarmus)
Arise advocacy also helped increase Alabama’s child nutrition investments. SB 112 and SB 113 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, allocated $17.3 million to expand school breakfast and continue Summer EBT. Arise members last yearsuccessfully pushed for Alabama to participate in Summer EBT starting in 2025. The program will help reduce food insecurity for more than 500,000 children statewide.
One setback this year was enactment of HB 477 by Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook. This law authorizes unregulated health plans that could cap benefits for enrollees and charge higher premiums or deny coverage based on preexisting conditions. Arise sought amendments to help mitigate the law’s worst provisions.
The work continues
Several Arise-backed bills made major progress but fell just one step short of going to the governor. Garrett’s HB 389 would have reduced state income taxes for households with low and middle incomes. Coleman-Madison’s SB 153 would have improved Alabama’s voting rights restoration process. And SB 22 by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, would have allowed the state to remove tax incentives for companies that violate child labor laws.
Arise also helped prevent numerous bad bills from passing. These included proposed new barriers to unemployment insurance benefits, food assistance and Medicaid coverage.
With your support, Arise will keep advocating for essential policy changes in 2026 and beyond. We will keep working to close the health coverage gap and untax groceries forever. And we will continue strengthening our movement for a better, more inclusive Alabama for all.
