Expanding health care access and improving maternal and infant health will remain top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2026 legislative agenda. We also will continue advocating for state funds to help public schools provide free school meals to every student.

Nearly 600 members voted in the last week to affirm Arise’s legislative priorities. The seven priorities chosen were:

Health equity, including policies to close Alabama’s health coverage gap for adults with low incomes and to protect access to maternity care.
Hunger relief, including legislation to allow more public schools to provide no-cost breakfast and lunch for all of their students.
Adequate state budgets, including equitable public education funding for every student and state funding for affordable housing and public transportation.
Inclusive democracy, including no-excuse early voting and removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians.
Justice reform, including legislation to apply Alabama’s ban on judicial override of jury sentencing decisions in death penalty cases retroactively, as well as improvements to the state’s sentencing and parole systems.
Tax reform to build a more just and sustainable revenue system, including eliminating the rest of Alabama’s state sales tax on groceries and replacing the revenue equitably.
Worker power to advance the health and safety of Alabama families, including legislation to remove tax incentives from companies that violate child labor laws, as well as efforts to extend paid parental leave protections to more workers.