“We’re here today to ask our lawmakers to end the state grocery tax quickly and responsibly. This is the year to finally untax groceries once and for all.”
With those words, Alabama Arise board president Kathy Vincent captured the spirit of our energetic Legislative Day event last week in Montgomery. More than 100 Arise supporters gathered at the State House to urge legislators to end Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries. It was our first in-person Legislative Day since the COVID-19 pandemic began. And thanks to folks like you, it was a huge success!
Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, spoke with Arise members that morning to share his support for untaxing groceries. Later, Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove, and Rep. Penni McClammy, D-Montgomery, joined us outside the State House to speak out against the state grocery tax during a widely attended news conference. That event generated dozens of stories that appeared in more than 100 outlets across Alabama and nationwide.
After decades of determined activism, we now see unprecedented bipartisan support for untaxing groceries. And thanks to your advocacy, lawmakers are feeling the urgency to get it done this year. As McClammy said: “We’ve talked about this over and over and over. It is time.”
Click here to watch video highlights from Legislative Day.
Medicaid expansion is another longtime Arise policy priority that is enjoying growing momentum this year. The night before Legislative Day, Arise and the Cover Alabama coalition co-hosted a town hall on Medicaid expansion in Jasper. Speakers illustrated the economic benefits of expansion and the budgetary path for state lawmakers to pay for it. They also discussed the cruelty of Alabama’s health coverage gap – and the ways that Medicaid expansion would ease that suffering. | |
One speaker shared the story of a mother who works hard at a construction job that doesn’t provide health insurance. She makes too much to qualify for Alabama Medicaid but too little to qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Without Medicaid expansion, she has no path to affordable health coverage.
“We say in our office very often, ‘Poverty isn’t a crime,’” community educator Rachel Davis Karr said. “And it isn’t, but she’s being punished for being poor.”
Click here to watch highlights from our Medicaid expansion town hall in Jasper.
P.S. – Support from caring people like you empowers our advocacy on the grocery tax, Medicaid expansion and our other policy priorities. If you’re already an Arise member, we thank you for making our work for a better Alabama possible. If you aren’t yet a member, please consider joining Arise today. Click the button below to join our movement for change! | |
