December 2024 | Vol. 27, No. 4

The Arise Report - December 2024

This is an electronic version of the December newsletter that will be mailed to Alabama Arise members.

Join or renew your Arise membership today to ensure you get the next print edition in your mailbox!

Click here to check out the full online version.

The federal policy fights and opportunities ahead

Alabama Arise and our members have worked for more than 35 years to push for policies that improve the lives of people struggling to make ends meet. We have remained steadfast in this mission and our values, and we will continue that commitment in the coming years.

Arise is deeply concerned about the prospect of harmful federal tax and budget changes next year. And we are working closely with national allies and those in other states to educate and advocate on these issues. We’ll be calling on you, our members and partners, to help us protect Alabamians with low incomes. We will be responding to numerous federal issues in 2025, including opposing funding cuts for human services and tax cuts for the wealthiest households.

Alabama Arise’s 2025 priorities — and changes for 2026

More than 450 members voted to affirm Alabama Arise’s 2025 legislative priorities after this fall’s Annual Meeting:

• Adequate state budgets, including Medicaid expansion and equitable public school funding for all students
• Tax reform, including untaxing groceries
• Voting rights
• Criminal justice reform
• Maternal and infant health care
• Public transportation
• Death penalty reform

A new year, a new issue selection process for Alabama Arise

From our founding, Alabama Arise has been strongly committed to member leadership. Directly impacted communities, our member organizations and individuals guide and decide our policy agenda.

Over the years, the way we select this agenda has changed as our work has evolved and as times change. Now we are proposing another change to help us better commit to multiyear advocacy on the issues that matter most to our members.

During our November board retreat, the Arise board voted to adjust the way we select our legislative agenda in 2025. This change will not go into effect until we go through issue selection next summer. We will ask you, our members, to approve this new agenda format at next year’s Annual Meeting.

Must-haves for any Medicaid expansion plan

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is publicizing a plan called ALLHealth to close Alabama’s health coverage gap. We expect the plan would use Medicaid expansion dollars to buy private insurance for many eligible Alabamians, much as ALL Kids provides children with private coverage on a sliding cost scale.

Alabama Arise is tracking this plan closely with our Cover Alabama coalition partners and will assess it as more details become public. Arise commits to our members that we will only support a plan that provides quality insurance to everyone in the health coverage gap. 

Spreading the word about Medicaid expansion in Alabama

Alabama Arise’s Cover Alabama campaign joined the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in November to unveil a billboard urging Medicaid expansion to help hospitals stay open. The billboard is by Interstate 85 in Montgomery near Jackson Hospital, one of many Alabama hospitals that would benefit from closing the health coverage gap.

Join Alabama Arise this holiday season!

In this season of generosity, we can’t forget all of the Alabamians struggling to make ends meet because of bad policies. At Alabama Arise, we take our cue from you, our members, to build a better future. Together, we’re focused on advocacy for a more just and prosperous state.

More than 15% of our financial support comes from members like you. And your giving ensures Arise focuses on the issues you care about, such as access to health care and an inclusive democracy.

Arise staff make an Impact at SPP conference

Alabama Arise staff met and learned from advocates from across the country at the State Priorities Partnership (SPP) Impact Conference in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 4-6, 2024. Arise was a founding member of the SPP network, which has grown to include more than 40 independent, nonprofit research and policy organizations nationwide. Read our newsletter online for more photos from the event.

Alabama Arise staff members Adam Keller, Whitney Washington, Matt Okarmus, Robyn Hyden and Chris Sanders smile for a photo at the SPP Impact Conference on Dec. 5, 2024, in Washington, D.C. 

Alabama Arise

P.O. Box 1188, Montgomery, Alabama 36101

(334) 832-9060  ·  [email protected]

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