Category: News Releases

Alabama Arise members urge support for plan to untax groceries, protect funding for public schools

By Chris Sanders
Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery, speaks in support of untaxing groceries during Arise’s Legislative Day on April 11, 2023, in Montgomery.

Alabama should embrace the opportunity this year to remove the state sales tax on groceries in a sustainable and meaningful way, Alabama Arise Action members told lawmakers Tuesday.

More than 100 Arise supporters gathered for a news conference outside the State House in Montgomery to show their support for this change. State Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, and Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery, both spoke there Tuesday in support of untaxing groceries.

“We’re here today to ask our lawmakers to end the state grocery tax quickly and responsibly,” Alabama Arise Action board president Kathy Vincent said. “This is the year to finally untax groceries once and for all.”

The news conference was part of Arise’s annual Legislative Day event. Photos from the event are available on Arise’s Facebook page.

Alabama Arise Action supporters gather outside the State House in Montgomery during Arise’s Legislative Day on April 11, 2023. More than 100 Alabamians came to urge their lawmakers to end the state sales tax on groceries.

Why and how to end the state grocery tax in Alabama

Alabama is one of only three states, along with Mississippi and South Dakota, with no tax break on groceries. And Alabama is the only state to allow a full state income tax deduction for federal income tax (FIT) payments. Because wealthy people pay more in federal income taxes on average, the state’s FIT deduction overwhelmingly benefits rich households.

“We call this the FIT, or FIT deduction, and it should give you a fit,” Coleman said. “You should have a fit, because it’s an unfair tax break that disproportionately lowers taxes for the wealthiest people.”

Coleman said she will introduce a bill to repeal the state’s 4% sales tax on groceries and replace the revenue by ending the FIT deduction. Her plan would allow Alabama to end the state grocery tax while fully protecting funding for public schools.

Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, advocates for her plan to untax groceries during Arise’s Legislative Day on April 11, 2023, in Montgomery.

The state sales tax on groceries brings in about $600 million a year for the Education Trust Fund (ETF). Meanwhile, the FIT deduction costs the ETF more than $900 million a year, estimates show. Revenue from both the sales tax and individual income tax go to the ETF.

McClammy and Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, are preparing other bills to reduce the state grocery tax. They have not yet publicly revealed the details of that legislation.

McClammy said Tuesday that she hopes to file her bill as soon as next week. After more than 20 years of debate about untaxing groceries in Alabama, it needs to happen this year, she said.

“I hope and I pray that next year, when we come back here again, it’s not Groundhog Day,” McClammy said. “A change has got to come.”

Broad public support for untaxing groceries in Alabama

Arise shared its principles for an ideal plan to untax groceries Tuesday. Those principles call for an immediate grocery tax reduction that protects funding for public schools. They also include a grocery tax cut that applies to a broad range of foods, not a limited subset. Arise’s preferred legislation would untax food as defined in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, briefs Alabama Arise Action supporters about his efforts to untax groceries during Arise’s Legislative Day on April 11, 2023, in Montgomery.

Public support to untax groceries is strong across Alabama. Seven in 10 Alabamians support ending the state grocery tax, according to a new poll released this week. And nearly three in five Alabamians support removing the state grocery tax while protecting education funding, according to a poll commissioned by Alabama Arise last year.

“Get rid of this grocery tax now. That is the message, loud and clear,” Alabama Arise Action executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Everybody wants this to pass. We don’t want any more excuses.”

Advocates visit Alabama lawmakers to urge support for Medicaid expansion

By Chris Sanders
Kenneth King speaks from behind a lectern outside the Alabama State House in Montgomery. He is a Black man wearing a gray suit, a gray toboggan cap and a scarf that is white and black. Standing behind him are numerous supporters of Medicaid expansion, including a white man wearing a black jacket and glasses who holds a sign reading "Save Our Rural Hospitals," and a white woman with red hair and glasses who holds a sign reading "Help the Working Poor: Expand Medicaid."
Alabama Arise board member Kenneth King speaks at Cover Alabama’s advocacy event outside the State House in Montgomery on March 21, 2023. King shared his story of living in Alabama’s health coverage gap and urged lawmakers to support Medicaid expansion.

More than 80 Alabamians gathered outside the State House in Montgomery on Tuesday to urge state lawmakers to expand Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. The Cover Alabama coalition sponsored the event as part of its advocacy day for Medicaid expansion. Alabama Arise is a founding member of Cover Alabama.

Some advocates shared stories of how Medicaid expansion would help their families and communities. Others highlighted how expansion would benefit Alabama’s economy and health care system. All sought to show the human faces of the state’s health coverage gap and the suffering it causes.

Video footage from the event is available here. Photos from the events are available here.

“I lost my job because of a chronic health condition. I’m the primary provider for my family, but I could not stay well enough to do my job,” said Jesse Odland, a Huntsville line cook. “Now, I worry my medical debt will affect how my family can thrive. The working class drives our economy, and we’re hit the hardest by the coverage gap.”

Closing the coverage gap would help nearly 300,000 Alabamians access potentially life-saving care. It also would create thousands of new jobs and invigorate the state’s economy, research shows. Medicaid expansion could create more than 20,000 new jobs and save the state almost $400 million each year for the next six years, according to a recent report by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. And in rural areas, expansion would have the added benefit of reinforcing rural hospitals.

“Alabama’s rural hospitals are in trouble. More than a dozen are at immediate risk of closing this year,” said Dr. Marsha Raulerson, who has been a pediatrician in Brewton for more than 40 years. “When a rural hospital closes, that community loses not only their access to health care but also a primary economic engine and the jobs that come with that. Medicaid expansion is a win-win for patients and providers alike.”

Rev. Carolyn Foster, the faith in community coordinator at Greater Birmingham Ministries, argued that expanding Medicaid is just the right thing to do.

“No matter our creed, we can all agree that we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves,” Foster said. “So long as we allow our neighbors to fall into the health care coverage gap, we are failing to answer that calling. It is an affront to people of faith and people of good will.”

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid, and North Carolina likely will join that list next week. Debbie Smith, Alabama Arise’s Cover Alabama campaign director, said advocates hope this is the year Alabama will expand, too.

“Research shows Medicaid expansion is favorable on both sides of the political aisle,” Smith said. “We are hopeful Alabama lawmakers will do the smart, compassionate and fiscally responsible thing and expand Medicaid now. How can our state not afford to save money?”

Click here for video from the event. And click here for photos from the event.

Alabama’s death penalty system still in need of reforms to end injustices

By Chris Sanders

Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Friday in response to Gov. Kay Ivey’s announcement that an internal review of executions in Alabama has ended:

“All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. Unfortunately, the Department of Corrections’ internal review of the state’s execution process did not resolve many of the injustices that remain throughout our capital punishment system.

“The department still needs to pull back the curtains and provide greater public transparency on execution procedures. Legislators must do their part as well to reduce the unfairness of Alabama’s death penalty. An important first step would be retroactively applying the state’s 2017 ban on judicial override, a practice that allowed judges to impose death sentences despite a jury’s recommendation otherwise.

“Lawmakers also should require unanimous agreement from jurors to sentence someone to death. And Alabama should provide state funding for appeals of death sentences, as other states with capital punishment do.

“Our state’s death penalty is broken and should be abolished. Short of that, these policy changes would be important steps to reduce the inequities that pervade capital punishment in Alabama.”

Death penalty moratorium is a chance to end injustices in Alabama’s capital punishment system

By Chris Sanders

Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Monday in response to Gov. Kay Ivey’s request for a pause on executions in Alabama:

“All Alabamians deserve equal justice under the law. Gov. Kay Ivey’s call for a temporary halt to executions is a welcome and necessary move toward ending many of the injustices plaguing Alabama’s capital punishment system.

“The attorney general should agree to the governor’s request. The Department of Corrections should complete the thorough review of the state’s death penalty procedures that Ivey demanded. And the department should pull back the curtains and provide greater public transparency on those procedures.

“Legislators must do their part to reduce the unfairness of Alabama’s death penalty system, too. They should retroactively apply the state’s 2017 ban on judicial override, a practice that allowed judges to impose death sentences despite a jury’s recommendation otherwise. Lawmakers also should require unanimous agreement from jurors to sentence someone to death. And they should provide state funding for appeals of death sentences, as other states with capital punishment do.

“Our state’s death penalty is broken and should be abolished. Short of that, these policy changes would be important steps to reduce the inequities that pervade capital punishment in Alabama.”

Public transit, healthy food access among key pathways to increase economic opportunity in Birmingham area, new report finds

By Chris Sanders

Greater Birmingham has experienced a resurgence in economic growth and civic engagement in recent years. But the benefits of this prosperity are not widely shared among everyone living in the region – and a new comprehensive report that Alabama Arise and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) released Thursday shows that people across Jefferson County know it.

The report, Homecoming: The Greater Birmingham Community Speaks on Regional Cooperation and a More Inclusive Economy, includes a professional survey of 1,024 residents of the Greater Birmingham area conducted this year. Three in four residents said the region’s economic resources are not distributed fairly. And only one in four said they are personally included in the Birmingham area’s economic revival.

Economic opportunity and financial vulnerability across Greater Birmingham vary widely by race, gender and geography, the report finds. Homecoming highlights the critical problems facing the region’s residents – and the solutions they want to see. The report defines Greater Birmingham as Jefferson County, the City of Birmingham and 33 other municipalities within Jefferson County.

Picture of the Birmingham skyline. Report cover text: Homecoming: The Greater Birmingham Community Speaks on Regional Cooperation and a More Inclusive Economy.

“The results of this comprehensive study of the issues facing Greater Birmingham residents speak volumes, especially in the wake of the results of the midterms, about where communities stand on the major issues that impact not only Alabama, but our country as a whole,” said Marc Bayard, associate fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and the report’s co-author.

“Alabama’s economy is growing, but ordinary people aren’t seeing the same changes to their bottom line. We see the real-life effects of economic and racial inequality, and we also see the profound need for change in how the government responds to the most urgent needs and concerns of Alabama residents.”

Click here to read the full report.

Policies to promote broadly shared prosperity

The study includes a professional survey of 1,024 Greater Birmingham residents conducted in 2022. It focuses on ensuring broad representation across race, gender, political ideology and geography.

“Too many people are being left behind in Birmingham’s economy these days. The region needs broadly shared prosperity that creates good jobs that provide a living wage and upward mobility,” said Allan M. Freyer, Ph.D., visiting fellow with Alabama Arise and the report’s lead author.

“Our study provides local governments across the Birmingham area with a toolbox of potential strategies for promoting equitable economic growth that benefits everyone. Better transit, access to healthy foods, affordable housing, accountability for development projects, and more local authority are the key to a more prosperous, thriving region.”

Key findings

  • Two-thirds of survey respondents identified transportation – especially lack of public transit – as the top challenge facing Greater Birmingham. The region is one of the country’s most auto-dependent metro areas.
  • More than 55% of residents cited lack of access to healthy food in certain neighborhoods as a significant problem.
  • Almost 80% of respondents identified rising housing costs as a problem. Another 73% said the same about the overall lack of affordable housing.
  • More than 73% of survey respondents rated lack of good jobs as at least somewhat of a problem. This included 82% of Black respondents and 62% of white respondents.
  • Nearly 60% of respondents said gaining access to job training programs is a challenge, and those fortunate enough to complete these programs might not find available jobs calling for their new skills.
  • More than 60% saw child care as a significant challenge for the region’s economy.
  • More than three-quarters of residents want their local government to ensure companies create the jobs they promise in exchange for public subsidies or tax incentives – and require those jobs to pay living wages.
  • A supermajority of residents (nearly three in four) oppose preemption (through which states can limit the authority of local governments) and support home rule (where localities are relatively autonomous). Large majorities of Black and white residents alike said local governments should be able to set their own minimum wage.

“Hope for a brighter future is a value shared by people of every race and in every part of the Greater Birmingham area,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “For prosperity to be shared more broadly, residents are telling us we need to invest in recruiting high-quality, better-paying jobs. We can support workers in getting to those jobs with better public transportation and stronger investments in child care and affordable housing.”

Methodology

To capture a range of ideas and perspectives effectively, the Arise and IPS report:

  • Commissioned a professional survey in 2022 of 1,024 Greater Birmingham residents. The goal was to understand the challenges residents are facing and the policy solutions they support.
  • Conducted 12 focus groups with key categories of stakeholders to learn more about the biggest challenges facing Greater Birmingham residents. Researchers engaged approximately 80 people, including corporate leaders, business owners, faith leaders across the racial spectrum, grassroots activists, leaders of women’s groups, youth development groups, and other nonprofit leaders working in various aspects of equitable development across the area.
  • Conducted two dozen one-on-one interviews with community leaders to hear their concerns and proposed solutions. These included staff at local governments, regional foundations, regionwide civic initiatives, grassroots activists, policy advocates, nonprofit leaders, neighborhood association presidents and local developers.

Read the full report here.

52 Alabama groups urge Shelby, Tuberville to support Child Tax Credit, EITC improvements this year

By Chris Sanders

U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby and Tommy Tuberville should support expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in year-end budget legislation, 52 organizations across Alabama wrote in a letter sent to the senators Tuesday. Alabama Arise is among the groups that signed the letter.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) temporarily expanded the CTC for hundreds of thousands of Alabama children last year. The law also temporarily increased the maximum EITC for workers without children and broadened the age range for EITC eligibility. Those temporary improvements have expired, but Congress can renew them in the “lame duck” session beginning this week.

“We urge you to put families and workers first,” the groups wrote to Shelby and Tuberville. “There should be no expanded tax breaks for businesses and corporations without expanding the CTC and EITC.”

Click here to read the organizations’ full letter to Shelby and Tuberville.

Child Tax Credit improvements helped cut U.S. child poverty rate by nearly half

Nearly 350,000 Alabama children would benefit from renewing the CTC improvements, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonprofit research organization in Washington, D.C. The impact would be especially significant for children of color across the state. Among Alabama children who would benefit from renewing the CTC improvements, 161,000 are Black, 130,000 are white and 41,000 are Hispanic, according to CBPP estimates.

The temporary CTC expansion worked swiftly and powerfully to ease suffering and expand economic opportunity, Census data shows. Monthly CTC payments last year helped families cover rising costs for necessities like food, utilities, rent and diapers. Overall, the policy kept more than 5 million Americans above the poverty line. It also contributed to a major nationwide reduction in the child poverty rate in 2021, with the Supplemental Poverty Measure for children falling from nearly 10% to about 5%.

ARPA’s one-year CTC expansion increased the maximum credit for children under age 6 to $3,600, and for all other children to $3,000. It made the full CTC available to children living in families with low or no earnings. And it extended the credit to 17-year-olds, who previously were ineligible.

“Our nation’s historically high child poverty rate is a choice,” the organizations’ letter said. “Recent U.S. Census data reveals a fundamental truth: Congress has the power to make a different choice.”

EITC expansion increases boost financial stability for Alabama workers

The EITC improvements under ARPA also eased hardship for people across Alabama. More than 280,000 Alabamians with low incomes benefited from last year’s temporary EITC expansions. Nearly three in four had incomes below $20,400, according to estimates by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

ARPA temporarily raised the maximum EITC for working adults from roughly $530 to roughly $1,500. It also increased the income eligibility limit and expanded the age range of eligible workers. Those changes allowed adults aged 19-24 who are not full-time students to qualify, as well as people 65 and over.

“[CTC and EITC expansions] have proved effective to reduce child poverty and boost incomes for people who work but aren’t paid enough to make ends meet,” the groups’ letter said. “We hope we can count on you to fight for these policies to support kids and workers.”

Click here to read the organizations’ full letter to Shelby and Tuberville.

Alabama Arise unveils 2023 roadmap for change in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Expanding Medicaid and ending the state sales tax on groceries will remain top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2023 legislative agenda. More than 400 members voted on Arise’s issue priorities in recent days after the organization’s annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Adequate budgets for human services like education, health care and child care, including Medicaid expansion to make health coverage affordable for all Alabamians.
  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and capping the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, which overwhelmingly benefits rich households.
  • Voting rights, including automatic universal voter registration, removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians, and other policies to expand and protect multiracial democracy in the state.
  • Criminal justice reform, including retroactive application of state sentencing guidelines and repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act.
  • Death penalty reform, including a law to require juries to be unanimous in any decision to impose a death sentence.
  • Public transportation to empower Alabamians with low incomes to stay connected to work, school, health care and their communities.
  • Payday and title lending reform to protect consumers from getting trapped in debt.

“Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for everyone,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our 2023 issue priorities reflect the need to work together to break down policy barriers that keep people in poverty, and that disproportionately harm Black and Hispanic Alabamians. We must build a healthier, more just and more inclusive future for our state.”

Displaying Arise's 2023 Policy Priorities: Tax reform, Adequate state budgets, Voting rights, Criminal justice reform, Death penalty reform, Public transportation, Payday and title lending reform

The time is right to expand Medicaid in Alabama

One essential step toward a healthier future for Alabama is to ensure everyone can afford the health care they need. Arise members believe Medicaid expansion is a policy path to that destination, and research provides strong support for that position.

Expanding Medicaid would reduce racial health disparities and remove financial barriers to health care for more than 340,000 Alabamians. It would support thousands of new jobs across the state. And most importantly, it would save hundreds of lives every year.

Medicaid expansion would ensure health coverage for more than 220,000 Alabamians caught in the coverage gap. These residents earn too much to qualify for the state’s bare-bones Medicaid program but too little to afford private plans. Expansion also would benefit another 120,000 Alabamians who are stretching to pay for coverage they cannot readily afford.

Alabama is one of only 12 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. But an Alabama Arise poll earlier this year found that more than seven in 10 Alabamians (71.5%) support Medicaid expansion. That figure included 65.8% of Republican voters.

“Medicaid expansion would boost our economy and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Alabamians,” Hyden said. “It’s time for Gov. Kay Ivey and lawmakers to say yes to the generous federal incentives for Medicaid expansion. Making this crucial investment in Alabamians’ well-being now will make our state better for decades to come.”

Why and how Alabama should untax groceries

Alabama’s state grocery tax makes it harder for people with low incomes to make ends meet. The tax adds hundreds of dollars a year to the cost of a basic necessity for families. And most states have abandoned it: Alabama is one of only three states with no sales tax break on groceries.

The state sales tax on groceries brings in roughly 6% of the Education Trust Fund’s annual revenue. But lawmakers have a path available to end the state grocery tax while protecting funding for public schools. Arise will continue to support legislation to untax groceries and replace the revenue by capping the state income tax deduction for federal income taxes (FIT).

The FIT deduction is a skewed tax break that overwhelmingly benefits the richest households. It is also exceedingly rare: Alabama is one of only two states to allow this deduction in full. The FIT deduction and grocery tax are two policies that contribute heavily to Alabama’s upside-down tax system. On average, Alabamians with low and moderate incomes must pay twice as much of what they make in state and local taxes as the richest households do.

“By untaxing groceries and capping the FIT deduction, lawmakers can make Alabama’s tax system more just and equitable,” Hyden said. “This plan would empower more families to keep food on the table while also protecting funding for our public schools. The Legislature should seize this opportunity to make life better for every Alabamian.”

20+ Alabama community groups call on Hyundai to stop alleged use of child labor at suppliers

By

The Alabama Coalition for Community Benefits issued an open letter on Thursday to Hyundai Motor of North America calling on the company to stop any use of child labor and to negotiate a community benefits agreement.

The letter from community leaders in Alabama comes as the U.S. Department of Labor continues to investigate widely reported alleged use of child labor by SMART, a Hyundai-owned parts supplier to the Korean company’s large assembly facility in Montgomery.

A Reuters writer initially reported evidence suggesting that as many as 50 underage workers – as young as 12 years old – had worked at the stamping plant that also has a long history of health and safety violations, including amputation hazards.

At the same time, another Hyundai supplier, SL Alabama, was sued by the Department of Labor last month over allegations that the supplier employed children under age 16. SL Alabama manufactures headlights and mirrors for Hyundai. Also last month, Hyundai was sued by Mexican workers who allege that Hyundai discriminated against them by paying them less than white workers at the same plant.

“When our state incentivizes employers to locate here, Alabamians have a right to expect a high level of accountability and transparency,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Alabama has given up tax dollars to help support the Hyundai manufacturing plant and suppliers. We are asking for more accountability for all employers who receive subsidies and profit from state investments.”

“These allegations of child labor at multiple Hyundai subsidiaries suggest a potentially systemic problem with labor practices across the company’s U.S. supply chain,” United Auto Workers President Ray Curry said. “Accordingly, we urge the Biden Administration to use all available tools – administrative, criminal and civil – to investigate the alleged abuses and hold the company, its subsidiaries and suppliers, and any third-party labor recruitment firms accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The working people of Alabama welcomed Hyundai into our community with open arms and generous financial support, with the expectation that the company would be a good corporate community partner,” said Carmen Paschal, a production worker at the Hyundai assembly plant in Montgomery. “The company needs to take responsibility, take action to prevent this kind of terrible exploitation and ensure that Hyundai provides quality jobs and workplace rights across its supply chain. We deserve nothing less.”

The Coalition works toward improving working conditions in Alabama manufacturing plants, including those in the state’s large auto industry. The Coalition includes civil rights groups, faith leaders, labor unions, Latinx organizations and environmental groups.

Scott Douglas, director of Greater Birmingham Ministries, said: “Taking advantage of children and placing them in harm’s way must stop, and as a coalition partner, we will continue to fight until this practice ends.”

Community benefits agreements are legally enforceable agreements between private companies and coalitions of community and labor groups that ensure a wide range of high-road job standards and equity measures. The Coalition recently negotiated such an agreement with New Flyer, the largest bus manufacturer in North America, for its assembly facilities in Anniston, Alabama, and Ontario, California.

Hyundai and its suppliers employ thousands of workers in Alabama and are one of the largest employers in the greater Montgomery area. The region also has a disproportionately high rate of poverty for Black and Latino people ‒ often two to three times that of white people.

New Census data reveals how good policy choices can cut poverty, keep Alabamians healthier

By Chris Sanders

People-friendly federal policies reduced poverty and made it easier for people to get health care in 2021, U.S. Census figures released this week show. Perhaps the most eye-opening improvement was a dramatic reduction in child poverty nationwide.

The recent Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion alone kept 5.3 million Americans above the poverty line. The one-year expansion under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) made the full CTC available to children living in families with low or no earnings. It increased the maximum credit to $3,000 per child and $3,600 per child under age 6. And it extended the credit to 17-year-olds. The expansion expired in 2022 after Congress failed to renew it, but lawmakers could revisit that decision later this year.

Child Tax Credit improvements fuel record drop in U.S. child poverty

CTC expansion helped reduce disparities for Black and Hispanic children. It also drove the U.S. child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2% under the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Unlike the traditional poverty measure, the SPM reflects the poverty-reducing effects of tax credits and non-cash benefits like food assistance.

Alabama’s official child poverty rate was 22% last year under the American Community Survey (ACS), a more traditional measure that accounts for fewer factors than the SPM. That was an apparent increase from the pre-pandemic level of 21.1% in 2019, though within the margin of error. (ACS data for 2020 is unavailable due to pandemic-related data collection disruptions.)

SPM data paints a fuller picture of the poverty-reducing power of supports like the expanded CTC. Alabama’s three-year average overall poverty rate under the SPM was 10.3% in 2019-21. By contrast, the state’s overall ACS poverty rate moved from 15.5% in 2019 to 16.1% in 2021. That change was not statistically significant.

“The success of the Child Tax Credit expansion was undeniable,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “This policy slashed child poverty and helped families make ends meet across our state and our country. Congress needs to renew the Child Tax Credit expansion and make it permanent. And our state lawmakers should do their part to help Alabama families keep food on the table by ending the state grocery tax and replacing the revenue in a responsible way.”

Uninsured rates fall nationally despite tumult of COVID-19 pandemic

Federal policy choices also fueled a slight reduction in the number of uninsured Americans last year. The U.S. uninsured rate dropped to 8.6% last year, down from 9.2% in 2019. Alabama’s uninsured rate stayed relatively flat, moving from 9.7% in 2019 to 9.9% in 2021. That change was within the margin of error.

Alabama continued a years-long pattern of outperforming the national average in insuring children in 2021. The state’s rate of uninsured children (4%) remained the best in the Deep South last year. Much of that sustained success is attributable to ALL Kids, the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) created in 1998. ALL Kids has played a crucial role in reducing Alabama’s rate of uninsured children from 20% in the late 1990s.

A key factor in the overall health coverage improvements was the federal requirement for state Medicaid programs to keep participants covered throughout the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency declaration. That declaration may end later this year, underscoring the importance of helping many enrollees transition to new coverage.

Enhanced subsidies under ARPA also helped make health coverage more affordable for millions of Americans with private plans. This includes many of the 219,000 Alabamians with marketplace plans through the Affordable Care Act. Congress renewed subsidy enhancements through 2025 in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law last month.

“Medicaid, ALL Kids and ACA marketplace coverage have saved and improved the lives of millions of Alabamians,” Hyden said. “Alabama should build on these successes by expanding Medicaid to help more than 340,000 people who are uninsured or struggling to afford health insurance.

“It’s time for Gov. Kay Ivey to say yes to the generous federal incentives for Medicaid expansion. It’s time for her to say yes to a healthier future for Alabama.”

Inflation Reduction Act will make Alabama a healthier state

By Chris Sanders

Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Monday in response to the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday:

“The Inflation Reduction Act will help build a healthier future for people across Alabama. This plan will make health coverage more affordable for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians and millions of Americans. It will improve air quality by investing in clean energy and reducing emissions that fuel climate change. And it will pay for these investments by closing tax loopholes that subsidize profitable corporations and wealthy households.

“This plan will save money for patients and the federal government by allowing Medicare to negotiate certain prescription drug prices. It will cap the cost of insulin and other out-of-pocket drug expenses for Medicare enrollees. And it will extend enhanced subsidies that make health coverage more affordable for many of the 219,000 Alabamians with marketplace plans through the Affordable Care Act.

“We’re happy that the U.S. Senate passed this important legislation. And we look forward to the House approving it and sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law.

“We also will continue advocating for state lawmakers to make other needed investments in families and communities. We’ll keep working for additional funding to make child care, housing and public transportation more affordable and available across Alabama. And we’ll continue pushing for Medicaid expansion to help more than 340,000 Alabamians who are uninsured or struggling to afford health insurance.

“These policy choices are essential to improve Alabamians’ quality of life and to boost our state’s economic prosperity. We’re determined to see each and every one of them across the finish line.”