WSFA 12, Montgomery: Governor signs bill to cut Alabama’s grocery tax

Alabama Arise staff lined up behind Gov. Kay Ivey as she signed a law reducing Alabama's grocery tax. Arise has worked hard for decades to untax groceries, and we remain determined to eliminate the state grocery tax once and for all.

Further reading:

Fox 10, Mobile

WLTZ 38, Columbus, Ga.

WTOK 11, Meridian, Miss.

WTVM 9, Columbus, Ga.

WTVY 4, Dothan

AL.com: Status of 129,000 Alabama Medicaid enrollees uncertain after post-pandemic emergency

“People need their health care coverage. And when they’re eligible, there is no reason why they should be caught up in a procedural issue," Arise's Jennifer Harris told AL.com about Alabama's Medicaid "unwinding" process. “It is just a lot of information in a very short amount of time. And sometimes people may not be able to grasp all the information or understand what’s needed for action on their part.”

Further reading:

Alabama Daily News

Decatur Daily

Dothan Eagle 

Florence TimesDaily

Fox 6, Birmingham: What to know if you’re losing your Medicaid coverage in Alabama

“We’re working with Enroll Alabama, so navigators will be reaching out to individuals who will lose their coverage to talk to them about what options are available in the marketplace,” Arise’s Jennifer Harris told Fox 6 in Birmingham.

Further reading:

WTVY 4, Dothan

WSFA 12, Montgomery: New study shows expanding Medicaid access could improve maternal health

Expanding Medicaid would improve maternal health across our state, a recent report by Georgetown University indicates. Alabama has some of the most restrictive Medicaid eligibility requirements in the country. “For a family of three, for a woman who is not pregnant, or doesn’t have a disability or something like that, the income limit is $373 a month,” Arise's Debbie Smith told WSFA 12 in Montgomery.

Valley Times-News: Alabama battles controversial GOP legislation

Arise and other advocates this year helped defeat a bill that would have criminalized many efforts to assist people with absentee voting. “There’s just no reason to introduce legislation that could severely restrict people’s access to the ballot and scare people away from voting with so little justification,” Arise’s Mike Nicholson told The Valley Times-News.

Alabama Political Reporter: SB 242: How bad bills die

“Instead of trying to make things even more friendly toward money, corporate interests, what we should do is actually address the human beings and use the policy levers of the state to make concrete improvements for people’s lives. More than anything else, we should do that by talking to people and finding out what they actually need instead of just making laws that affect people without actually engaging with them on what would help their lives,” Arise's Dev Wakeley told the Alabama Political Reporter. 

Alabama Reflector: Over 12,000 Alabamians eligible for student debt relief, says U.S. Department of Education

“Our state’s underinvestment in education made it harder for Alabamians to enroll in and graduate from college,” Arise’s Chris Sanders told the Alabama Reflector. “State lawmakers have done a better job of funding education in recent years as revenues have grown. Alabama needs to keep building on that momentum at all levels of education, from pre-K to Ph.D.”