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.

Those setbacks would add further strain to the health care infrastructure that serves all Alabamians. About two dozen rural hospitals in Alabama are at immediate risk of closure, and four labor and delivery units have shut down since 2023. These closures have reduced care options in a state that already has one of the nation’s worst maternal mortality rates.

“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.”