Category: News Releases

82 Alabama groups urge Ivey, legislators to fund public transportation using ARPA funds

By Chris Sanders

Lawmakers should jump-start public transportation across Alabama with an allocation of $20 million from the state’s remaining federal COVID-19 relief money, according to a letter that 82 churches and organizations across the state sent Wednesday to Gov. Kay Ivey and legislators. Alabama Arise is among the groups that co-signed the letter.

The organizations asked Gov. Kay Ivey and the Legislature to invest $20 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in the state Public Transportation Trust Fund. That amount is just 2% of the state’s roughly $1 billion of remaining unallocated ARPA funds.

Alabama is one of only three states with no state funding for public transportation, the letter says. Lawmakers created the state Public Transportation Trust Fund in 2018, but it has yet to receive state funding. And the consequences of that state inaction have grown in recent years, the letter says.

“The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened the harm resulting from lack of state support for public transportation,” the letter says. “We know robust investments in public transit will provide strong benefits for people across Alabama. Greater access to work, school, child care and medical care are just a few examples of how public transit is critical not only for an individual’s quality of life but for the state’s economic development and prosperity.”

More public transit funding means fewer service barriers

Investments in public transportation would expand economic opportunity, advance racial equity and strengthen community connections, a recent Arise report found. Arise’s survey of public transit systems in 42 of Alabama’s 67 counties showed how additional funding would empower those systems to lift many service barriers.

“State public transportation funding is an investment in a stronger economy and healthier communities,” Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “This investment would allow Alabama to draw down more federal infrastructure dollars. It would allow systems to hire more drivers and add more routes. It would enable them to extend operating hours and modernize technology. And it would bring us closer to the day when all Alabamians can get where they need to go when they need to get there.”

Click here to read the full letter from 82 organizations to the governor and legislators.

New poll: Most Alabamians support plan to untax groceries, protect funding for public schools

By Chris Sanders

Nearly three in five Alabamians (59.3%), including 56.1% of Republican voters, support legislation that would remove the state sales tax on groceries without cutting education funding, according to a new poll commissioned by Alabama Arise. Only 25.3% of respondents opposed the plan, with another 15.5% saying they were unsure or did not take a position.

The poll shows strong public support for untaxing groceries in a responsible way, Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said.

“The state grocery tax increases hunger rates and drives struggling Alabamians deeper into poverty,” Hyden said. “Legislators have a clear path to untax groceries without cutting a dime of funding for public schools. They should act now to seize this opportunity to improve life for families across our state.”

Arise unveiled the poll results Tuesday during a member rally at the State House in Montgomery. Dozens of Arise supporters gathered to show their support for efforts to eliminate 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 one of only two states, along with Iowa, 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.

Both sales tax revenue and individual income tax revenue go to the Education Trust Fund. By capping the FIT deduction, Alabama could afford to end the state sales tax on groceries while protecting school funding. Three bills this year would do that: SB 43 by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre; HB 173 by Rep. Mike Holmes, R-Wetumpka; and a forthcoming bill by Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery. McClammy’s bill also would remove the state sales tax from over-the-counter medicines.

Bar graph showing how most Alabamias would get a tax cut under the untax groceries bill

Under SB 43 and HB 173, the FIT deduction cap for Alabamians who file as single, head of household or married filing separately would be $4,000 annually. For married couples filing jointly, the limit would be $8,000 a year. Under McClammy’s bill, those annual caps would be $3,500 and $7,000, respectively.

About the poll

Alabama Arise commissioned the poll, which the Montgomery-based firm Cygnal conducted in January. The poll surveyed 631 likely voters across Alabama and has a margin of error of +/- 3.85%. Interviews of known registered voters occurred via live phone calls, online panel, texts and email invitation.

Click here for Arise’s poll results on untaxing groceries in Alabama.

New poll: More than 7 in 10 Alabamians support Medicaid expansion

By Chris Sanders

More than seven in 10 Alabamians (71.5%), including 65.8% of Republican voters, support expanding Medicaid when told about arguments in support of the idea, according to a new poll commissioned by Alabama Arise. The poll also showed robust bipartisan support for using a portion of the state’s funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support Medicaid expansion.

Participants responded strongly when informed that expanding Medicaid would create an average of 20,000 new jobs per year over the next six years and have an economic impact of $1.8 billion per year. Nearly 69% of respondents, including 61.8% of Republican voters, supported using a portion of the state’s $2 billion in ARPA funds to expand access to Medicaid in Alabama.

Jane Adams, Cover Alabama campaign director at Alabama Arise, said the poll results underscore Alabama’s urgent need for Medicaid expansion.

“Voters support Medicaid expansion because it is a tremendous opportunity to create jobs, protect rural hospitals and provide life-saving care,” Adams said. “This poll shows Medicaid expansion is no longer a partisan issue and that most Alabamians support expanding Medicaid coverage to adults with low incomes.”

Support for Medicaid expansion grows across Alabama

The overwhelming polling support reflects an ever-growing group of individuals, organizations, veterans, faith leaders, medical professionals and businesses that support expanding Medicaid in Alabama. This group includes the Alabama Hospital Association, Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee and the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, as well as more than 100 nonprofits, faith-based groups and medical advocacy organizations in the Cover Alabama Coalition.

Alabama Arise commissioned the poll, which the Montgomery-based firm Cygnal conducted in January. The poll surveyed 631 likely voters across Alabama and has a margin of error of +/- 3.85%. Interviews of known registered voters occurred via live phone calls, online panel, texts and email invitation.

Click here for Arise’s poll results on Medicaid expansion in Alabama.

New report highlights economic benefits of Medicaid expansion

A recent report from the nonprofit Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) shows how Medicaid expansion would create jobs and boost local economies across the state. “Expanding Medicaid coverage in Alabama could save the state almost $400 million per year over the next six years – more than enough to cover the cost of expansion – and have an average positive economic impact of $1.89 billion per year over that same time frame,” the report found.

Medicaid expansion in Alabama would cost an average of $225.4 million per year, according to the PARCA report. But the report also found that expansion would lead to the federal government covering $379.9 million in annual expenses now paid by the state. “As a result, the state could expand coverage, and at the same time, reduce or reinvest the amount paid to support health care for low-income Alabamians by $172 million annually,” PARCA found.

The economic impact of Medicaid expansion. Medicaid covers approximately 925,000 Alabamians -- the majority are children. Alabama is 1 of 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid. Over the next six years, research by PARCA and Jacksonville State University shows Medicaid expansion in Alabama could save the state more than $400 million a year, increase Medicaid enrollment by as many as 283,636 people, drop the uninsured rate by 43%, create an average of 20,083 new jobs per year, cost an average of $225.4 million above current expenditures and yield average annual savings of $397.8 million. Recent polling by Cygnal shows more than 7 in 10 Alabama voters would like to expand Medicaid so more people can access health care. 71.5% of voters support Medicaid expansion, including 65.8% of Republicans. 50.2% strongly support expansion, while only 17.5% overall and only 20.6% of Republicans oppose expansion.

Adams said ARPA funding and other federal incentives make Medicaid expansion an opportunity too good for Alabama to pass up.

“Governor Ivey and leaders in Montgomery have said the obstacle to expanding Medicaid in Alabama is the cost. But with the American Rescue Plan Act funding, Alabama can expand Medicaid and could reinvest more than $170 million in state funding to provide more access to care,” Adams said.

“Public support is strong, and the report and polling data show there is no financial barrier or obstacle to overcome. We urge Governor Ivey and leaders in Montgomery to put forward a Medicaid expansion plan that is tailored to the needs of Alabamians.”

New poll: Alabamians strongly support use of ARPA funds to protect rural hospitals, increase mental health services

By Chris Sanders

Alabama’s likely voters overwhelmingly support using federal COVID-19 relief funds to increase funding for mental health and rural hospitals, according to a new Alabama Arise poll released Monday.

More than four in five respondents (81.1%) supported using a portion of Alabama’s funding under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to invest in rural hospitals and increase rural Alabamians’ access to health care. And nearly three in four likely voters (73.6%) said lawmakers should boost mental health funding to increase access to services across Alabama. Among Republican voters, 80.1% supported investments in rural hospitals and 67.7% supported more mental health care funding.

“Alabamians are loud and clear that they want our lawmakers to use federal relief money to strengthen our state’s health care system,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health care workers like nothing before in our lifetimes. And it has exposed and worsened our state’s persistent racial and geographic health disparities.

“ARPA offers an unprecedented chance to protect rural hospitals and increase access to mental health care and other services. We must seize this opportunity to build a healthier future for Alabama.”

Photo of a smiling couple and their child. Headline: Alabama should use ARPA funds to build a better, more inclusive future.

Child care, housing, public transportation also enjoy strong public support

Sizable majorities also approved of other potential uses of ARPA money to improve living conditions for Alabama’s children and families. Those proposals include:

  • Expanding access to subsidized child care for working families.
  • Establishing a state child tax credit to lower costs for working families.
  • Expanding access to affordable housing throughout the state.
  • Investing in public transportation, particularly in rural areas.

Alabama will receive a total of more than $2 billion in ARPA funds. Lawmakers last year appropriated $400 million of that amount toward prison construction and $80 million to hospitals and nursing homes. This week, the Legislature will vote on a plan to spend another $772 million of ARPA funds. Most of that money would go toward broadband internet expansion, water and sewer improvements, and additional funding for hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The state expects to receive the remaining $1 billion in ARPA funds later this year. Arise’s poll shows the public wants legislators to use that money to ease economic stress on Alabama households, Hyden said.

“The pandemic has made it harder for people across our state to find child care, keep a roof overhead and get where they need to go,” Hyden said. “We should use ARPA funding to ease families’ suffering and provide the supports needed to help every Alabamian succeed. It’s time for our lawmakers to meet this moment and ensure Alabama’s post-pandemic future is a bright and inclusive one.”

About the survey

Alabama Arise commissioned the poll, which the Montgomery-based firm Cygnal conducted Jan. 13-14. The poll surveyed 631 likely voters across Alabama and has a margin of error of +/- 3.85%. Interviews of known registered voters occurred via live phone calls, online panel, texts and email invitation.

Click here for Arise’s poll results on ARPA funding priorities in Alabama.

Alabama Arise unveils members’ 2022 roadmap for change

By Chris Sanders

Sentencing reform and voting rights expansion are two key goals on Alabama Arise’s 2022 legislative agenda. Members voted for Arise’s issue priorities this week after nearly 300 people attended the organization’s online annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and ending the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, which overwhelmingly benefits rich households.
  • Adequate budgets for human services like education, health care and child care, including Medicaid expansion to make health coverage affordable for all Alabamians.
  • Voting rights, including automatic universal voter registration and removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians.
  • 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.
  • Payday and title lending reform to protect consumers from getting trapped in debt.
  • Public transportation to help Alabamians with low incomes stay connected to work, school, health care and their communities.

“Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for all Alabamians,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our 2022 issue priorities would break down many of the policy barriers that keep people in poverty. We must build a more inclusive future for our state. And together, we will.”

Graphic listing Alabama Arise's 2022 issue priorities

The urgent need for criminal justice reform

Alabama’s criminal justice system is broken, and its prisons are violent and dangerously overcrowded. Exorbitant court fines and fees impose heavy burdens on thousands of families every year, taking a disproportionate toll on communities of color and families who already struggle to make ends meet. And Alabama needs investments in mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, community corrections and diversion programs to help stem the tide of mass incarceration.

Lawmakers’ plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on new prisons is not an adequate solution to these problems. Alabama must enact meaningful sentencing and reentry reforms to make its corrections system more humane and effective. Legislators took a good first step during this week’s special session by passing a bill by Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, to provide supervised release for everyone leaving prison in Alabama.

Many other needed changes still remain on the Legislature’s plate, however. One important priority is Hill’s proposal to allow judges to apply Alabama’s new sentencing guidelines retroactively. The House declined to vote on that bill this week, but Hill has promised to file it again in 2022. Hundreds of people would be eligible to apply for a reduced sentence if the measure passes.

Arise also will continue to work toward repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act (HFOA), the state’s “three-strikes” law. The HFOA is a driver of sentencing disparities and prison overcrowding in Alabama. The law lengthens sentences for a felony conviction after a prior felony conviction, even when the prior offense was nonviolent. Hundreds of people in Alabama are serving life sentences for non-homicide crimes because of the HFOA. Thousands more have had their sentences increased as a result. Repealing the law would reduce prison overcrowding and end some of Alabama’s most abusive sentencing practices.

Protect and expand voting rights so every voice is heard

Arise members provided a resounding endorsement of efforts to protect and expand voting rights in Alabama. This includes support of federal legislation to prevent voter suppression and strengthen the Voting Rights Act. And it includes calls for numerous state-level improvements to promote greater civic engagement and increase access to voting.

One such improvement would be automatic voter registration (AVR) across Alabama. AVR would use information the state already has to register or update registrations electronically for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians. Another important step would be to ensure people who struggle to make ends meet are not denied the right to vote simply because they cannot afford court fines and fees.

“Our ability to progress as a state will be limited as long as any person or group is unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” Hyden said. “We urge Alabama lawmakers to protect and expand voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration and lifting barriers to voting rights restoration.”

42 Alabama groups urge Ivey to drive transformative change with federal COVID-19 relief funds

By Chris Sanders

To strengthen the common good: Six principles for allocating Alabama's American Rescue Plan Act funding

Alabama should build a more equitable and inclusive future by using federal COVID-19 relief money for transformational investments in public health and economic opportunity, according to a letter that 42 churches and organizations across the state sent to Gov. Kay Ivey this week. Alabama Arise is among the groups that co-signed the letter.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will provide Alabama $2.3 billion of federal assistance for education and other vital services. Local governments across the state will receive another $1.7 billion.

Affordable housing, education, nutrition and public transportation are a few key areas of need identified in the letter. The letter urges Alabama to use ARPA funds to expand Medicaid, increase broadband internet access in underserved areas and increase funding for child care, early childhood education and mental health care, among other investments.

“New funding at this scale can be transformative for our state, but only if we take a transformative approach to how we spend it,” the letter says. “For too long, Alabama’s leaders … have settled for poor outcomes in health, education, community development and other measures of shared prosperity, because they thought we couldn’t tackle such deep problems. The pandemic is challenging us to reclaim – and redefine – the common good. ARPA funding gives us a rare opportunity to meet the challenge, if we’re willing.”

The full letter, “To Strengthen the Common Good: Six Principles for Allocating Alabama’s ARPA Funding,” is available here.

Principles for effective, transparent use of ARPA money

COVID-19 and its associated recession exacerbated preexisting racial, gender and regional disparities that prevent Alabama from reaching its full potential. Enduring recovery will require breaking away from a mindset of scarce resources and limited opportunities, the letter says.

The letter encourages state leaders to allocate ARPA funds using these six principles as a framework:

  1. Engage local communities at every step.
  2. Aim for equity in outcomes.
  3. Maximize well-being by addressing health in all policies.
  4. Invest in existing assets and capacities to help funds work faster, go further and avoid duplication.
  5. Think big and create a 21st-century infrastructure for the common good.
  6. Build public trust and engagement by following the highest standards of documentation, transparency and accessibility of information about funding awards and expenditures.

Investments to increase equity, expand economic opportunity in Alabama

ARPA funds offer the state an opportunity to lift communities toward better health and broadly shared prosperity. They also can help Alabama address chronic challenges in education, health care, housing and other quality-of-life measures. Among the letter’s key recommendations for allocation of ARPA funds:

  • Expand Medicaid to save lives and ensure health coverage for more than 340,000 Alabamians with low incomes.
  • Invest in mobile mental health crisis services and expand mental health crisis centers and school-based mental health services.
  • Increase funding for in-home early childhood education and in-home services for older adults and people with disabilities.
  • Provide funding for the state’s Housing Trust Fund and Public Transportation Trust Fund.
  • Promote equity in high-speed internet access by targeting earmarked broadband funding to help providers expand into underserved areas.
  • Invest in workforce development by creating subsidized apprenticeships, two-year scholarship programs and subsidized certificate programs for workers with low incomes.
  • Provide a grocery tax rebate and other cash assistance to households with low incomes.

“Recovery from COVID-19 will require Alabama to go beyond a return to an inadequate status quo,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our elected officials must make better policy choices now to build thriving communities in the future, and ARPA funds offer a powerful pathway to help make that vision a reality. We urge the governor to seize this opportunity to increase public trust and build a brighter, more equitable future for all Alabamians.”

New report profiles essential workers most likely to lack health coverage in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Medicaid expansion would increase access to life-saving health care while also advancing racial and gender equity in Alabama, according to a new report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families (CCF). Expansion also would ensure coverage for tens of thousands of essential workers in industries like health care, retail and construction.

“Everyone in Alabama has relied on these essential workers in some way during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Alabama Arise policy director Jim Carnes said. “Now it’s our turn to help them get reliable, affordable health insurance so they can continue to do their jobs and care for their families. It’s time for Alabama to accept generous federal funding to expand Medicaid to our state’s uninsured workers.”

Alabama is one of 12 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. This inaction has denied hundreds of thousands of Alabamians access to quality, affordable health care.

Approximately 204,100 uninsured adults – 49% of Alabama’s uninsured adult population – would gain coverage if Alabama expands Medicaid, Georgetown CCF estimates. That estimate is in line with prior projections that Medicaid expansion would benefit more than 340,000 Alabamians who are uninsured or struggling to afford coverage.

These residents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid under the state’s stringent income limit but too little to qualify for subsidized marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, they are stranded in a health coverage gap.

Expanding Medicaid would save lives, advance racial and gender equity

Women and Black people account for a disproportionate share of low-wage uninsured working Alabamians, the Georgetown CCF report finds. Black people represent about 27% of Alabama’s overall population but 39% of the state’s low-wage uninsured workers. Women also are overrepresented in this category, making up 55% of low-wage uninsured Alabamians.

These uninsured residents work in vital but low-paid jobs. More than one-third of Alabamians working without health insurance (35.2%) are in the hospitality or retail industries, the report finds. Another one in five work in construction or in health care and social assistance.

Alabama’s uninsured rate for working people (12.1%) exceeds the national average. In 11 counties, more than 15% of working people are uninsured, Georgetown CCF finds. The highest rates are in DeKalb County (19.2%) and Dale County (18.2%).

The map below shows the range of uninsured rates for working adults across Alabama. Hover over the map to see the rate in your county.

Nearly seven in 10 Alabamians support expanding Medicaid to reduce these disparities, a statewide poll found in February. And the American Rescue Plan Act offers federal incentives that would more than offset Alabama’s initial cost to expand Medicaid.

If Gov. Kay Ivey agrees to expansion, the law would give the state a 5-percentage-point increase in federal funding for its traditional Medicaid coverage for two years. That would bring Alabama an additional $732 million over two years, based on an average of federal, state and independent estimates.

Federal relief package will reduce Alabamians’ unmet health needs, hunger, housing instability and other hardships

By Chris Sanders

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will reduce poverty while expanding health care, housing and nutrition protections across Alabama, according to analyses by Alabama Arise and other research organizations. President Joe Biden signed the new federal COVID-19 relief package into law Thursday.

The law will slash poverty by expanding tax credits to struggling households and boosting unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. It also will provide Alabama $2.3 billion of federal assistance to help avoid cuts to education and other vital services. Local governments in Alabama will receive another $1.7 billion in federal funding.

Some of the relief package’s most transformative investments will come in health care. The law will increase the affordability of health coverage through the marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And it will create new federal incentives that would more than offset the state’s cost to expand Medicaid, providing health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Alabama adults with low incomes.

“The American Rescue Plan Act throws Alabama’s struggling families a much needed lifeline,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “And it offers budgetary breathing room for policymakers to tackle chronic problems, address longstanding racial and gender inequities and build an economy that works for every Alabamian. Medicaid expansion should be at the very top of our legislators’ to-do list.”

A new pathway to Medicaid expansion in Alabama

The relief package could bring overdue peace of mind to some 300,000 Alabamians living in the health coverage gap. They earn too much to qualify for Medicaid under the state’s stringent income limit but too little to qualify for subsidized ACA marketplace plans.

Nearly seven in 10 Alabamians support expanding Medicaid to cover these adults, a statewide poll found last month. If Gov. Kay Ivey agrees to expansion, the law would give the state a 5-percentage-point increase in federal funding for its traditional Medicaid coverage for two years.

That would bring Alabama an additional $940 million over two years, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) estimates. And it would remove any remaining financial barrier to Medicaid expansion, said Jane Adams, the Cover Alabama campaign director for Alabama Arise.

“This law is a much-needed step toward closing the health coverage gap in Alabama. We have no time to waste,” Adams said. “Tens of thousands of people have died in the South ‒ my home ‒ because they couldn’t afford to get the health care they needed.

“Medicaid expansion is the single biggest step Alabama can take to weather and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and move our state forward. Congress did their job. Now it is time for Governor Ivey and our state lawmakers to do theirs and immediately expand Medicaid in Alabama.”

Enhancements to existing Medicaid, marketplace coverage

The relief package also makes multiple coverage improvements for tens of millions of Americans with Medicaid or ACA marketplace plans. Among other changes, the law:

  • Reduces or eliminates marketplace premiums through 2022. Subsidies will increase across the board, and no one will pay more than 8.5% of income for their health plan.
  • Eliminates COBRA premiums through September 2021.
  • Protects against tax liability on premium assistance because of income fluctuation.
  • Increases funding for COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution.
  • Gives Alabama the option to increase the income limit and coverage period for postpartum Medicaid coverage.
  • Increases federal funding for home- and community-based Medicaid long-term care services.
  • Increases federal funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment and a broad spectrum of mental health services.

Child Tax Credit, EITC expansions will reduce poverty across Alabama

Poverty rates will fall nationwide thanks to tax credits and stimulus payments in the American Rescue Plan Act, studies predict. One of the greatest gains will result from a Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion that could cut the U.S. child poverty rate in half, a Columbia University analysis found.

The relief package makes the full CTC available to children living in families with low or no earnings. It increases the credit’s maximum amount to $3,000 per child and $3,600 for children under age 6. And it extends the credit to 17-year-olds. This CTC expansion will help four in five Alabama children (or nearly 1.1 million), as well as nearly 1 million adults, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) estimates.

Direct payments and expanded tax credits will help Alabamians make ends meet as well. Among other changes, the law:

  • Provides a one-time payment of $1,400 per person for individuals making up to $75,000 and couples making up to $150,000. Individuals with incomes up to $80,000 and couples with incomes up to $160,000 are eligible for partial payments. These stimulus payments will benefit 91% of adults (3.1 million) and 92% of children in Alabama, ITEP estimates.
  • Raises the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for working adults without children from roughly $530 to roughly $1,500. The law also increases the income limit for these adults to qualify from about $16,000 to at least $21,000.
  • Expands the age range of EITC-eligible workers without children. Younger adults aged 19-24 who are not full-time students can qualify now, as can people 65 and over.
  • Helps more than 280,000 Alabamians with the EITC improvements mentioned above, CBPP estimates. The vast majority of the Alabamians who will benefit (205,200) have annual incomes below $20,400, according to ITEP.

Boosts to SNAP, unemployment, housing assistance to help Alabamians make ends meet

The American Rescue Plan Act includes additional provisions to keep more households fed and housed. Most urgently, it extends until Sept. 6 the supplemental $300 federal UI benefits that were set to expire this weekend. This extension more than doubles Alabama’s maximum total weekly benefit to $575, or roughly 60% of median household income.

The law also provides $37 billion nationwide in rental and mortgage assistance to help prevent evictions and foreclosures. For Alabama, this would mean an increase of more than 1,400% from 2020 Emergency Solutions Grant funding if states receive funding proportionate to their populations.

In addition, the package continues a 15% boost to food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through September. This increase will help nearly 800,000 Alabamians and bring $64 million in additional SNAP benefits into Alabama, CBPP finds.

The plan takes many other steps to alleviate hardship. Among other changes, the law:

  • Provides Alabama with $10 million in emergency pandemic Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funding. This money is usable for one-time benefits like cash assistance, rental assistance or clothing allowances.
  • Allows states to continue Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits through early September. P-EBT replaces the value of meals that children miss when schools are closed.
  • Increases the monthly allocation for fruits and vegetables in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program from $9 to $35 for four months.
  • Makes the first $10,200 of UI benefits non-taxable for households with incomes below $150,000.
  • Excludes discharged student loan amounts from taxable income calculation through 2026.

“Everyone should know the security of having food on the table and a roof overhead,” Hyden said. “The American Rescue Plan Act will help ease Alabamians’ suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. And it will lay a foundation to build a stronger, more inclusive Alabama in its aftermath.”

Policies to advance racial, gender equity key to Alabama workforce’s COVID-19 recovery, new Alabama Arise report shows

By Chris Sanders

State of Working Alabama logo

Alabama should rebuild from the COVID-19 recession by lifting policy barriers to economic opportunity and charting a path toward a more equitable and inclusive future, according to The State of Working Alabama 2021, a new report that Alabama Arise released Monday.

Medicaid expansion and a state law guaranteeing paid sick leave both would help strengthen Alabama’s workforce, the report says. Other policy recommendations include higher funding for nutrition and housing assistance and improvements to the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) system.

The Alabama Legislature moved quickly to pass “pro-business” bills in the opening days of the 2021 regular session. These measures included a new law providing a broad range of civil immunity against claims related to coronavirus exposure. As lawmakers return to Montgomery after a weeklong break, their policymaking focus should shift toward addressing their constituents’ urgent needs during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said.

“Legislators spent the first two weeks of this session protecting the interests of corporations,” Hyden said. “They should spend the rest of the session protecting the interests of the people of Alabama. And Arise’s State of Working Alabama report provides a blueprint for how to do just that.”

COVID-19’s toll has fallen heavily on women, Black and Hispanic/Latinx Alabamians

Arise’s seven-section report examines economic challenges – both old and new – that Alabamians have faced over the last year. Health coverage, housing, hunger, wages and working conditions for front-line workers are among the topics covered in The State of Working Alabama 2021. The report also highlights how the pandemic has exacerbated preexisting racial, gender and regional disparities in our state.

COVID-19 job losses hit Black workers nearly twice as hard as other Alabamians. Black workers made up 25% of Alabama's workforce in 2020 but 47% of Alabama's unemployment insurance claimants in 2020.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Alabama in March 2020, it didn’t just cause massive human suffering and economic disruption,” the Arise report says. “It also revealed suffering and disruption that have long existed and that policymakers have long neglected – or even perpetuated.”

Past policy decisions left Alabama inadequately prepared to respond to the pandemic, the report finds. They also created and maintained racial and gender disparities that prevent our state from reaching its full potential. Among the report’s major findings:

  • Alabama’s “essential workers,” hailed as pandemic heroes, often lack the basic protections of a living wage, health insurance, paid sick leave and family medical leave.
  • COVID-19 has caused disproportionate unemployment for Black people and women in Alabama. Economically disadvantaged counties in the Black Belt and other parts of Alabama also have lagged behind in unemployment recovery.
  • Before the pandemic, 62.2% of Alabama’s white workers had health insurance through their jobs. The same was true for only 46.4% of Black workers and just 35.5% of Hispanic/Latinx workers. The pandemic has widened those racial/ethnic disparities in health coverage.
  • Hunger has been widespread in Alabama’s communities of color during the COVID-19 recession. Early in the pandemic, nearly 21% of Black residents and 19% of Hispanic/Latinx residents said they didn’t have enough food.
  • Black and Hispanic/Latinx Alabamians are at higher risk of eviction for inability to pay rent. Even basic apartments are out of financial reach for low-wage workers everywhere in Alabama.

Policies to increase equity, expand economic opportunity for working Alabamians

Alabama’s policy legacy has exacerbated the damage that COVID-19 has wreaked on working people across the state, the report finds. The State of Working Alabama 2021 outlines a policy agenda to repair that damage and promote broadly shared prosperity. Among the report’s key recommendations:

  • Expand Medicaid to ensure more than 300,000 Alabamians with low incomes can afford treatment for COVID-19 and other health problems.
  • Guarantee permanent paid sick leave for all working Alabamians, so that no one has to choose between earning a paycheck and going to work sick.
  • Roll back the 2019 cuts to Alabama’s UI benefits and create a modernized claims system capable of handling future crises.
  • Provide state support for the Alabama Housing Trust Fund and abandon efforts to impose harmful limits on safety net programs.
  • Expand high-speed, affordable broadband technology, targeting rural and low-income communities and explicitly addressing racial equity in broadband access.

Hispanic and Black Alabamians are more likely to lack health coverage. 32.8% of Hispanic/Latinx residents were uninsured in the spring/early summer stage of the pandemic, and 20.7% were uninsured in the late summer/fall stage. The corresponding rates for Black residents were 17.8% and 13.5%. For white residents, the rates were 11.7% and 11.5%.

“The economic, racial and gender inequities in Alabama are preventable and reversible,” Alabama Arise policy director Jim Carnes said. “These disparities are the direct result of bad policy choices in the past. By making better choices now and in the future, we can chart a path toward a more equitable economy. The power to build a stronger, more inclusive Alabama is in the hands of our lawmakers – and all of us.”

About The State of Working Alabama 2021

Click here to read the executive summary of The State of Working Alabama 2021. Links to each of the report’s seven sections are available at the bottom of the page. You also can jump directly to a section using the links below.

  1. Introduction: The high cost of failing to protect the common good
  2. Unequal by design: COVID-19 and Alabama’s policy legacy
  3. Assessing the damage: COVID-19 and Alabama’s labor market
  4. Praised but underprotected: Front-line workers in the pandemic
  5. Why coverage matters: Health care in the time of COVID-19
  6. The ugly reality: Alabama’s hunger problem during the pandemic
  7. No place to call home: Housing insecurity amid COVID-19

69% of Alabama voters support Medicaid expansion, new poll finds

By Chris Sanders

Sixty-nine percent of Alabamians, including 64% of Republican voters, support expanding Medicaid when told about arguments for and against the idea, according to a new poll that the Cover Alabama Coalition released Wednesday.

The poll, conducted for Cover Alabama in January by Cygnal, shows support for Medicaid expansion across all demographics, including age, gender, income, education and geography. Alabama Arise is a founding member of Cover Alabama.

Cover Alabama logo

The poll also reveals the popularity of various funding sources for Alabama’s required 10% match for Medicaid expansion. Respondents expressed the most support for legalizing a state lottery and using part of the revenue to expand Medicaid. Proposed funding sources that won an overall majority or plurality of support were:

  • Legalizing a state lottery.
  • Increasing the state tobacco tax.
  • Legalizing and taxing medical marijuana.
  • Eliminating the federal income tax deduction for state income taxes.

Growing support and growing opportunities to expand coverage

Participants responded strongly when informed that more than 5,000 veterans (and 8,000 of their family members) do not have health coverage in Alabama. A full 70% of respondents were more likely to support expanding Medicaid when presented with that information. Respondents also were more likely to support expansion when informed that Alabama taxpayers have paid $4 billion in federal taxes since 2014 to help support Medicaid expansion in other states.

Both Republican and Democratic respondents were more likely to support Medicaid expansion with increased financial support from the federal government. A U.S. House bill would offer a dramatic increase in federal incentives for states like Alabama to expand Medicaid. If enacted, the legislation would provide an additional $940 million in federal money to Alabama over two years if the state expanded Medicaid. Medicaid expansion would benefit more than 340,000 Alabamians who are uninsured or struggling to afford coverage.

The overwhelming polling support reflects an ever-growing group of individuals, organizations and businesses that support expanding Medicaid in Alabama. This group includes the Alabama Hospital Association, the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Alabama Department of Health’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama and 100 nonprofits, faith-based groups and medical advocacy organizations in Alabama.

Federal legislation would leave ‘no financial barrier’ to Medicaid expansion in Alabama

Photo of Jane AdamsJane Adams, campaign director of Alabama Arise and director of the Cover Alabama Coalition, said in a statement:

“This poll shows that Medicaid expansion is popular and that both Republican and Democratic voters support using federal funds or revenue from a lottery to pay for Medicaid expansion. For four years, Governor Ivey has said the obstacle to expanding Medicaid in Alabama is the cost. Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a provision that is on track to pass both chambers of Congress and become law. This provision would offer states that have not yet expanded Medicaid significant financial incentives to do so.

“If Governor Ivey expands Medicaid, Alabama will receive an estimated $940 million of federal money over two years to help Alabama expand. There is no financial barrier or obstacle to overcome. Now is the time for Governor Ivey to save lives, create jobs and protect rural hospitals by expanding Medicaid.”

Dr. John Meigs, president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, said in a statement:

“The Medical Association of the State of Alabama commends the work of the Cover Alabama Coalition in its efforts to expand Medicaid. Without question, increasing access to quality care improves health outcomes for patients. While this obviously has a positive impact on individuals, the benefits also trickle up through families and communities, ultimately bettering our entire state. We are pleased to support ‒ along with a majority of Alabamians as the poll shows ‒ the expansion of Medicaid.”

Advocates will continue working to establish wide support for Medicaid expansion across the state and across political lines. And they will look toward Gov. Kay Ivey and state lawmakers to act accordingly.

The full poll results are available here.