News Releases
Public policy barriers prevent far too many Alabamians from getting ahead. Our duty is to speak out against those barriers and identify solutions to give everyone an opportunity to reach their full potential. Check out our news releases and press statements about our research, organizing and advocacy for policies to make life better for Alabamians who are struggling to make ends meet.
News Releases
Alabama Arise members vow to renew ‘untax groceries’ push in 2020
Ending the state sales tax on groceries is one of the top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2020 legislative agenda. Nearly 200 Arise members picked the organization’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday in Montgomery. The seven issues chosen were: Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and ending the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, [...]
News Releases
New federal public charge rule will hurt families and children across Alabama
A new Department of Homeland Security regulation published Monday will harm the health and well-being of thousands of Alabama families. The so-called public charge rule also will threaten access to health and human services programs for U.S.-born citizen children. When proposed last fall, the regulation drew more than 266,000 public comments, overwhelmingly in opposition. The feedback [...]
News Releases
Civil asset forfeiture transparency bill is a good start, but Alabamians still need much stronger protections
The Alabama House on Thursday passed SB 191, which would increase transparency around civil asset forfeiture in the state, sending it to Gov. Kay Ivey. Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden issued the following statement in response: “SB 191’s passage is a good first step toward bringing more transparency to Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture practices. [...]
News Releases
Alabama’s K-12 funding still far lower than a decade ago, despite recent gains
Alabama increased state education funding in 2018, but the legacy of years of extreme cuts remains, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, D.C. Alabama increased its K-12 formula funding by 1 percent per student last year. But that funding is [...]
News Releases
Better policy choices on taxes, transit can improve Alabamians’ health
Deeper and smarter investments in education, housing, infrastructure and other vital services can eliminate barriers to good health for low-income residents and communities of color, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonpartisan policy research organization based in Washington, D.C. Alabama can take many important policy steps [...]
News Releases
Shutdown deal brings sigh of relief for struggling Alabamians
The White House on Friday announced a short-term agreement to end the 35-day partial shutdown of the federal government. Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden issued the following statement in response: “The pain from this unnecessary shutdown has grown by the day. Fortunately, this deal will reopen the federal government without causing further damage to [...]
News Releases
Bipartisan Farm Bill brings good news for struggling Alabamians
The U.S. House on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, passed a compromise Farm Bill that avoided threatened cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). All members of Alabama’s House delegation joined Alabama’s two U.S. senators in voting for the bill. Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden issued the following statement in response: “The Farm Bill [...]
News Releases
Alabama should expand Medicaid to continue gains in children’s health coverage, new national report indicates
Alabama still has one of the lowest rates of uninsured children in the country, but its progress on that measure stalled in 2017, according to a report released Thursday by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF). The state’s uninsured rate for children (3.1 percent) remained below the national average (5 percent) in 2017. [...]
News Releases
The less you make, the more you pay: Alabama’s taxes remain upside down
Low-income Alabamians pay twice as much in state and local taxes as a share of their income compared to the state’s wealthiest residents, according to a study released Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. The study, Who Pays?, analyzes major state and [...]
News Releases
Alabama’s state higher ed funding cuts since 2008 are country’s third deepest
Alabama’s cuts to state higher education funding over the last decade are among the deepest in the country, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, D.C. The funding decline persisted even as the state’s economy began to rebound from the Great Recession. [...]
