Letters & Testimony
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise testimony against efforts to water down meaningful Public Service Commission reform
Arise’s Dev Wakeley testified Tuesday before the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee in support of the House-passed version of HB 475, and against proposed Senate changes through a substituted bill to weaken HB 475. As originally passed in the House, HB 475 by Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, would have required the Public [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise testimony in opposition to SNAP food choice limits
Alabama Arise hunger policy advocate LaTrell Clifford Wood testified Wednesday before the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee in opposition to SB 57 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur. SB 57 would restrict which foods can be bought in Alabama with food assistance benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Here is the full [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise testimony in opposition to ending Public Service Commission elections
Alabama Arise’s Robyn Hyden testified Tuesday before the House Transportation, Utilities and Infrastructure Committee in opposition to HB 392 by Rep. Chip Brown, R-Hollinger’s Island, which would change the Public Service Commission from an elected board to an appointed one. Here is the full text of Hyden’s prepared remarks: Good morning. I am Robyn Hyden, [...]
Letters & Testimony
Principles for allocating Alabama’s Rural Health Transformation Program funds
October 17, 2025 Dear Governor Ivey and Health Policy Advisory staff: Thank you for the opportunity to share our priorities for the Rural Health Transformation Program. Alabama Arise has three suggested priorities for the use of these funds: 1. Providing payments to health care providers for the provision of health care items or services, as [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise urges federal officials to lift barriers to public transportation funding
Investing in public transportation would increase mobility, strengthen communities and create jobs across our state. Alabama Arise's worker policy advocate Dev Wakeley recently submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Transportation urging federal officials to take steps to make public transportation more available and reliable in Alabama. The full text of the comments is below. [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise, 42 partner groups ask lawmakers to stand strong against TVA privatization
Proposals to privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) have surfaced repeatedly in recent years. Alabama Arise joined 42 partner groups in a letter urging Alabama’s congressional delegation and state elected officials to speak out in opposition to efforts to privatize TVA and to keep energy reliable, affordable and accountable to Alabamians. The full text of [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise, 49 partner groups urge state lawmakers to oppose federal SNAP cost shift
Congressional leaders are considering cuts to food assistance and other human services in a push to offset the cost of tax cuts for wealthy households. The amount of potential SNAP and health care cuts in the budget reconciliation bill that the U.S. House passed in May would be roughly equal to the cost of extending [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise, 111 partner groups urge Congress to oppose cuts to Medicaid, SNAP
Congressional leaders are considering cuts to health coverage, food assistance and other human services in a push to offset the cost of tax cuts for wealthy households. The amount of potential Medicaid and SNAP cuts in the House budget resolution would be roughly equal to the cost of extending tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise, 55 partner groups urge Congress to oppose more tax cuts for wealthy households
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), enacted in 2017, increased federal deficits by nearly $2 trillion while lavishing tax cuts on the country's wealthiest households. Many TCJA provisions are set to expire this year, including numerous provisions that disproportionately benefit wealthy people. Alabama Arise joined 55 partner organizations in a letter asking Alabama's congressional [...]
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise joins state commission on elimination of state grocery tax
The state sales tax on groceries is a cruel tax on survival, and Alabama Arise is committed to eliminating it. That is why I am grateful that Sen. Bobby Singleton nominated me to serve on the Joint Study Commission on Grocery Taxation on behalf of Arise. I am extremely excited about and honored for this [...]