Alabama Arise 2024 Agenda for Alabamians: An Alabama nonprofit, Alabama Arise, has revealed its 2024 Roadmap for Change, outlining key policy goals for the state. This organization, dedicated to improving the lives of Alabamians facing poverty, focuses on seven legislative changes. The primary concerns are Medicaid expansion and the elimination of the state’s sales tax on groceries, with recent success in passing the grocery tax bill.
Robyn Hyden, the executive director, emphasizes that the roadmap is shaped by members statewide, united in addressing poverty through public policy rather than solely charity. The roadmap spans topics like budget suggestions, death penalty reform, and voting rights. The organization’s priorities for 2024 include:
Expanding Medicaid: Alabama Arise advocates for closing the coverage gap affecting nearly 300,000 residents, emphasizing the potential federal funds that Alabama is currently missing out on.
Abolishing the State Grocery Tax: With a focus on alleviating the burden on low-income families, the organization seeks to eliminate the remaining 2% of the state grocery tax, providing immediate economic relief.
Voting Rights Reform: Alabama Arise aims to improve access to voting by addressing issues like absentee voting challenges and advocating for automatic universal voter registration.
Death Penalty Reform and Criminal Justice Reform: The organization proposes various reforms, including making the 2017 judicial override ban retroactive, requiring unanimous jury agreement for death sentences, and addressing racially biased practices in the death penalty.
Hyden highlights concerns about the criminal justice system’s use of fines to punish lower-income individuals and questions the significant funding allocated to building new prisons in the state. The 2024 Roadmap reflects the input of over 500 members and also addresses maternal and infant health care, public transportation funding, and the need for Alabamians to engage in state policy discussions at the Capitol in Montgomery.
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Does Alabama have expanded Medicaid?
Alabama’s refusal to expand Medicaid has led to a significant number of uninsured women between the ages of 18 and 44. A striking 15.9 percent of women in this age group do not have health coverage, placing Alabama among the states with the highest uninsured rates for women of childbearing age in the nation.