May 2025 | Vol. 28, No. 2 |
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| The Arise Report - May 2025
This is an electronic version of the May 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.
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Grocery tax, paid leave, maternal health highlight triumphant 2025 session for Alabama Arise
Alabama Arise just wrapped up one of the most successful legislative sessions in our history this year. Life will be better for people across the state as a result – and members like you made it all possible.
Arise members’ advocacy and support pushed legislators to enact numerous laws to reduce hunger and promote healthier families. By the time the Legislature’s 2025 regular session ended May 14, our members were celebrating many important, far-reaching victories, including another grocery tax reduction, a new paid parental leave law and legislation to improve maternal health and child nutrition. |
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Federal funding cuts would increase hunger and hardship across Alabama
Congress is advancing a cruel proposal to take away food assistance, health coverage and other vital services from millions of Americans who struggle to afford basic needs.
Why? To give huge tax cuts to the wealthiest people in the country. The bill’s proposed $1.1 trillion of cuts to food assistance and health care over the next decade would be equal to the amount of tax cuts it would provide for the wealthiest 2% of households, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Learn more about the threats to SNAP and health care – and how you can speak out against them. |
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A big ugly bill for billionaires |
The budget legislation that the U.S. House advanced before Memorial Day (the “Big, Beautiful Bill… for Billionaires”) is awful. It would undo progress we have made together over many decades of work, as Arise’s Robyn Hyden writes. The good news: The original legislation put forth was even worse. Your advocacy, calls and public actions helped block some terrible policies from moving forward.
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A new issue selection process, still listening
From our founding, Alabama Arise has been strongly committed to member leadership. Directly impacted communities, our member groups 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. The Arise board voted to adjust the way we select our legislative agenda starting this year. We will ask our members to approve this new format at our Annual Meeting on Sept. 27. |
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Arise staff union, leadership celebrate ratification of new contract Alabama Arise Workers United (AAWU), Arise’s staff union represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), unanimously ratified its first contract earlier this month. This was an exciting development after nearly a year of bargaining negotiations between CWA and Arise leadership. The process began after Arise leadership voluntarily recognized AAWU. |
Meet Matt Okarmus, our comms multitasker |
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As a communications associate, Matt is responsible for producing videos, assisting with media response and ensuring Arise’s communications team stays connected with our policy and organizing teams. One of Matt’s biggest responsibilities is designing the newsletter you’re reading right now (both the print and digital versions).
“I genuinely like looking at the puzzle-piece shifting of getting items to fit and pack them nice and neat and in a way that anyone who’s reading it doesn’t find it hard to do so,” he said about assembling the newsletter. Read our latest Staff Spotlight to learn about Matt as he celebrates seven years at Arise. |
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Welcome, Bernadette and Tamela! |
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Bernadette Allen joined Alabama Arise in May 2025 as the southwest Alabama organizer. She is a Mobile native who graduated from Murphy High School and continued her studies at Xavier University in New Orleans, La. She completed her B.A. degree in behavioral science at Columbia College in Columbia, S.C., and her M.S. degree in human services at Walden University in Minneapolis, Minn.
Bernadette is very active in the Mobile community. She is a member of the Mobile Branch of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, and the Connection and Social Action Committee in the Delta Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., where she served as the coordinator in 2024. She also is the volunteer chairman on the executive board for Stand Up Mobile, a nonpartisan voter education and advocacy organization. |
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Tamela Glover joined Alabama Arise in May 2025 as a north Alabama organizer. She is a Selma native and proud Alabama A&M University graduate. Her story is rooted in the legacy of those who marched, fought and sacrificed for freedom. Growing up, she heard stories of Bloody Sunday from those who lived it. Those stories planted the seeds of service and were watered by her parents, who have spent more than 30 years in ministry.
Tam brings passion, strategy and faith to the fight for a more just Alabama. She is pursuing an MPA degree in law and policy and is committed to helping shape systems that truly serve everyone, especially those who were historically disengaged. A proud wife and mama of three, Tam is doing this work with her babies in mind, determined to help build a world in which the next generation can thrive. |
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Subscribe to help build our movement! |
"If you’re like me, you probably have a few monthly subscriptions. You can pay $15 to watch your favorite TV shows or $17 to stream your favorite music. There are also some wacky subscriptions like a regular delivery of socks, coffee beans or pet toys!" Arise's Jacob Smith writes. "We thank you for giving to Alabama Arise, too. You just helped us wrap another successful legislative session. And our work continues: This summer, we’ll be all over the state connecting with people like you!" |
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HB 177: A case study in Alabama Arise advocacy |
Alabama Arise successfully leaped into action this year to defend health coverage for thousands of children. Read more for an example of the kind of critical legislative victories that Arise regularly secures for families across Alabama. |
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Members support tax justice, child nutrition during Arise Legislative Day |
More than 200 Alabama Arise supporters packed the State House in Montgomery for our 2025 Legislative Day on March 20. Attendees urged their lawmakers to reduce the state grocery tax and expand access to no-cost school breakfast in public schools. Your advocacy got results! |
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Alabama Arise
P.O. Box 1188, Montgomery, Alabama 36101
(334) 832-9060 · [email protected]
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