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Budget hearings show need for Alabama to expand Medicaid, boost public investments
Alabama needs to expand Medicaid and invest more in education and other human services. Those were key takeaways from this week’s state budget hearings in Montgomery. The hearings highlighted a range of policy challenges and illustrated the connections between many of them. We heard a lot of talk this week about the need to strengthen [...]
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. [...]
News Releases
Medicaid expansion, end to grocery tax highlight Alabama Arise’s 2019 priorities
Medicaid expansion and legislation to end the state sales tax on groceries are among the top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2019 legislative agenda. More than 200 Arise members picked the organization’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Montgomery. The seven issues chosen were: Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and closing [...]
Blog
Education budget, landlord-tenant changes, HIV drug bill advance in Alabama Legislature
K-12 teachers in Alabama wouldn’t get a raise next year under the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget that a House committee approved Wednesday. The House is expected to vote on the plan next week. The committee’s $5.9 billion budget would restore $10 million of state funding for Alabama State University that the Senate had removed. [...]
Blog
Medicaid work requirements, ALL Kids, prison mental health funding among top 2019 budget challenges in Alabama
Alabama Medicaid had good news for legislators last week, but it won’t last long. Lower-than-expected prescription drug costs will help Medicaid carry $53 million forward into 2019, meaning the agency will need less General Fund (GF) money next year than initially expected, Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar said during state GF budget hearings Thursday. But that [...]
Blog
Budgets for FY 2018 fall short of real need
The Alabama Legislature last week passed 2018 state budgets that once again fall short of meeting critical needs. While lawmakers avoided a repeat of last year’s General Fund (GF) crisis, which required a special session to resolve, the new budgets highlight structural flaws that will continue to hinder public services in our state until leaders [...]
News Releases
GOP tax plan would slash taxes for wealthy people while laying groundwork for cuts to education, Medicaid
Arise Citizens’ Policy Project executive director Kimble Forrister issued the following statement Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, in response to the release of U.S. House Republicans’ tax proposal: “The House Republican tax plan is an expensive new giveaway to wealthy households and big corporations at the expense of working families. It would offer little or nothing [...]
News Releases
Medicaid funding, public transportation highlight Arise’s 2018 priorities
New Medicaid revenue and creation of a state Public Transportation Trust Fund are among the goals on Alabama Arise’s 2018 legislative agenda. Nearly 200 Arise members picked the group’s issue priorities at its annual meeting Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, in Montgomery. The seven goals chosen were: Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and closing corporate income [...]
Fact Sheet
Budgets for FY 2018 fall short of real need
The Alabama Legislature last week passed 2018 state budgets that once again fall short of meeting critical needs. While lawmakers avoided a repeat of last year’s General Fund (GF) crisis, which required a special session to resolve, the new budgets highlight structural flaws that will continue to hinder public services in our state until leaders [...]
Blog
Budgets that would do little to boost investments in education, health care advance in Alabama Legislature
Running in place was the emerging theme this week as Alabama lawmakers advanced state budgets that would provide little additional money for education, Medicaid, mental health care and other essential services. Both the Education Trust Fund (ETF) and General Fund (GF) budgets await further action when the Legislature returns from spring break on April 4. [...]