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P. O. Box 1188
Montgomery, AL 36101
Street address: 207 Montgomery St. #900
(800) 832-9060 | www.arisecitizens.org
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Upcoming events
Nov. 2-3 – Interfaith Mission
Service hosts the Exploring Faith
Intersections Conference, Trinity
UMC, Huntsville.
Nov. 4 – Election Day in Alabama.
Feb. 5 – Arise Policy Conference,
Birmingham-Southern College
The staff corner
By Chris Sanders,
communications director
Change is all around.
It’s in the boxes
piling up in our
office as we prepare
to move to our new location near
the State House in a few weeks. It’s
in the way I spend so much of
every day glued to the smartphone
that I vowed for so long never to
get. And it’s in the new supporters
Arise is gaining all across Alabama.
Arise is grassroots. We don’t have
big money. Our power lies in the
everyday people who share our
vision for a better state. Our power
lies in you. Please help us grow. Like
Alabama Arise on Facebook and
follow @AlabamaArise on Twitter.
Then tell your friends about us and
ask them to get involved. Together,
we can change Alabama.
Report
Vol. 17, No. 9
October 9, 2014
Housing, transportation among new issues
ACPP members set 2015 agenda
By Chris Sanders, communications director
Medicaid expansion, payday and auto
title lending reform, and low-income
housing will be among the goals on
ACPP’s 2015 policy agenda. ACPP
members chose three new issue priorities
to go along with
four existing
issues at the
organization’s
annual meeting
Sept. 27 in
Montgomery.
state income tax credits for donations to
certain groups that provide private school
scholarships. ACPP members expressed
concerns that under the AAA, money that
would have supported public education in
low-income communities in Alabama goes
to private schools instead.
ACPP has
worked before
on two of the
new issues:
funding for the
Alabama
Housing Trust
Nearly 200 people gathered for ACPP’s annual meeting Sept. 27 at St. John’s African
Fund (HTF)
Methodist Episcopal Church in Montgomery. ACPP members selected three new issue
and public
priorities to join four existing priorities on the organization’s 2015 policy agenda.
transportation.
ACPP members reaffirmed their
After education and advocacy work by
commitment to two other priorities:
ACPP, the Low Income Housing
reasonable interest rate caps on payday
Coalition of Alabama and other allies,
and title loans in Alabama and an end to
state lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in
the state’s lifetime food assistance ban for
2012 to create the HTF, which expands
people with a felony drug conviction.
housing opportunities for low-income
Payday and title loans in Alabama can
Alabamians. Work to secure state support
carry annual interest rates of 456 percent
for public transportation in Alabama has
and 300 percent, respectively. Nearly two
been a frequent issue on ACPP’s agenda
dozen Alabama cities have approved
for two decades.
moratoriums on new high-cost lenders,
but only state law can change interest
The third new issue for 2015, working
rates. Legislation to cap rates on payday
to repeal the Alabama Accountability
and title loans at 36 percent is expected to
Act (AAA), is a new area for ACPP.
return in 2015.
The AAA, passed in 2013 after legislative
[Turn to Page 3]
leaders quickly cut off debate, provides
A few words
from Kimble
Thank you, Alice and Melissa!
Arise honored two
dedicated advocates
during the annual
meeting Sept. 27.
Alice Paris (left)
will leave Arise’s
board this year after
22 years of service.
Melissa Oliver
(right) celebrated 15
years as legislative
coordinator and will
continue to lobby
part-time for Arise.
Thank you, Alice
and Melissa, for
your great work to
make Alabama a
better place!
By Kimble Forrister,
executive director
Alabama Arise’s 25th annual
meeting went by quickly, huh? OK,
I’m kidding. The 10-minute Alabama
Arise meeting has become almost an
afterthought, but wasn’t that a great
ACPP meeting this year? (Sadly, by the
time we got to the Alabama Arise
meeting, its 25th anniversary cake had
been reduced to crumbs.) Judge
Vanzetta McPherson presented
thoughtful analysis at lunchtime, and
the organizers gave a cool video
report, but the highlight was the issue
selection process itself. The energy in
the room was palpable. Clearly folks
learned last year that it helps to bring a
carload who can vote! I wish we’d had
more time for deliberation, but having
11 issue proposals to review left us
just nine minutes per issue. Now we
have a challenging blend of short- and
long-term, narrow and wide-ranging
priorities. We’ll see how our new crop
of legislators responds to it.
Quite a few people gave us their
pink commitment forms, but most
apparently took theirs home. Several
people agreed to host an issue preview
session, and many committed to invite
their friends to join. (If you still have
your form, send it in!) I also want to
repeat my challenge to recruit
members younger than you are! Many
of us got into this work in our 20s, 30s
or 40s, and now we need to pass on
what we’ve learned about organizing
for policy change in Alabama.
Speaking of what we’ve learned: If
you don’t have a copy of our 2005
Alabama Tax & Budget Handbook,
we’re glad to send you one. We’re
working on a 10th anniversary
revision, so we need to move these
vintage originals out to make room for
the new ones.
Yours in peace and hope,
Arise Citizens’ Policy Project Report
1 in 4 Ala. public school students taking part
Success for new anti-hunger option
By Carol Gundlach, policy analyst
Community eligibility can save
money for schools by reducing costly
paperwork, allowing educators to focus
on teaching children. The new option
also allows schools to innovate by
serving breakfast after the first bell or in
the first-period classroom.
Nearly one in four children in
Alabama’s public schools can eat
breakfast and lunch free this year
under the new community eligibility
program. Schools in the state’s four
largest cities – Birmingham, Huntsville,
Mobile and Montgomery – now can
Community eligibility helps working
serve free meals to more than 125,000 families whose children previously did
children. More than 20 districts are
not receive free meals. Parents whose
participating
children
in the new
attend
program that
— Ashley Alexander Chickasaw
lets schools
Child nutrition coordinator, Anniston City Schools, schools, for
with large
describing the district’s increases in school meal example,
shares of
can save
participation under community eligibility $360 to
low-income
students
$405 a year.
serve free meals to all their students,
That money could boost Alabama’s
regardless of income.
retail economy or help families save
more for college or retirement.
Healthy school meals can help
children do better in school and in
Eligible schools that did not elect to
life. Community eligibility already has
participate will get another chance
boosted school meal participation. For to sign up next summer for the
example, Anniston has seen the share
2015-16 school year. Cost concerns led
of children eating school lunches go up some Alabama schools to wait to see
as much as 12 percent compared to last how the program works in participating
year. The jump among high schoolers
districts before committing. Community
was “just crazy awesome,” the district’s eligibility still has room to grow, but it’s
child nutrition coordinator, Ashley
already making a real difference for tens
Alexander, told The Anniston Star.
of thousands of children in Alabama.
“Just crazy awesome.”
October 9, 2014
Page 2
Roots of change: Scenes from ACPP’s annual meeting
At the top right are some of the nearly 200 Alabamians – younger and older, from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf Coast – who made their voices heard at
ACPP’s annual meeting Sept. 27 in Montgomery. One of the day’s major themes was Alabama’s dire need for Medicaid expansion, an issue that drew
passionate support from many members, including Eleanor Pomerat of Mobile (top left). Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Vanzetta McPherson (below left)
delivered a rousing lunchtime speech urging ACPP members to continue pushing for fairer state policies toward low-income Alabamians. One such proposal that
members selected as a priority was dedicated state revenue for the Alabama Housing Trust Fund to help expand housing opportunities for low-income families.
Ashley Kerr of the Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama (below right) urged support for a plan to pump $20 million a year into the fund.
Annual meeting
[Continued from Page 1]
Tax reform and adequate state
budgets for human services are
permanent ACPP issues. A key
part of ACPP’s work will be making
the case for Alabama to close the
coverage gap by expanding Medicaid
and providing affordable coverage
for more than 340,000 uninsured
Alabama adults. Closing the coverage
gap would create tens of thousands
of jobs and pump billions of dollars
into the state economy, studies have
found. ACPP also will continue its
longtime efforts to end the state
grocery tax and replace the revenue
responsibly. Alabama is one of four
states with no tax break on groceries.
Arise Citizens’ Policy Project Report
October 9, 2014
Page 3
Thank you for your support!
Arise Citizens’ Policy Project thanks the
following donors for their contributions received
between July 1 and Aug. 31, 2014:
Ellen Abell, Auburn
Pippa Abston, Huntsville
Natalie Adams, Tuscaloosa
Rev. Diana Jordan Allende, Opelika
Gloria Allenstein, Gadsden
Mary Beth Allison, Mobile
Sara Altherr, Kingston, Mass.
Kent Andersen, Birmingham
Benjamin & Helen Benford, Montgomery
Charles Betts, Decatur
William Blackerby, Decatur
Adalene Bledsoe, Huntsville
Brenda Boman, Notasulga
Joel Brouwer, Tuscaloosa
Cynthia Brown, Montgomery
Kirstin Bryant, Birmingham
Connie Buchanan, Birmingham
Chip Busch, LaFayette
Kathy Byrd, Tuscaloosa
Hank Caddell, Mobile
Henry Callaway, Mobile
Jennifer Camp, Birmingham
Doug Carpenter, Birmingham
Sally Cauthen, Duxbury, Mass.
Janice Charlesworth, Montgomery
Larry Childers, Montgomery
Corky & Greta Clark, Birmingham
Emily Clem, Athens
Carl & Pat Clements, Tuscaloosa
John Cleverdon, Point Clear
Anne Cody, Anniston
Joan Colburn, Auburn
Susan Colburn, Auburn
Scott Cole, Bessemer
Paula Copeland, Birmingham
Carolyn Crawford, Birmingham
Saradell Crawford, San Antonio, Texas
Malcolm & Ruth Crocker, Auburn
Joe & Patricia Crowley, Montgomery
Jo Ann Cummings, Decatur
John Czachurski, Huntsville
Michael Dalen, Hampton Cove
Bill Dawson, Birmingham
Joseph & Carol Dean, Birmingham
Aylett Dickman, Decatur
Lynn Douglas, Birmingham
John Dugger, Gadsden
Tom & Doreen Duley, Birmingham
Gary & Nancy Dunavant, Birmingham
Larry Durham, Vestavia Hills
Robert & Franciska Dyck, Birmingham
Coke & M.J. Ellington, Montgomery
Gerald & Jane Eure, Northport
Alice Evans, Huntsville
Thomas Fanning, Tuscaloosa
Anne Fitts, Selma
Michael Forton, Madison
Elaine Fuller, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Daniel Fulton, Birmingham
Ann Gant, Scottsboro
Arise Citizens’ Policy Project Report
Marilyn & Phil Garrett, Auburn
David Gary, Birmingham
Ted Gemberling, Birmingham
Jack Geren, Huntsville
Bill & Betty Giardini, Huntsville
David & Terri Glasgow, Birmingham
Margaret Gordon, Mobile
Gwendolyn Gray, Montgomery
John Gregory, Leeds
Carol Gundlach, Shorter
John Gunn, Auburn
Ruth Gynther, Auburn
Anne Hails, Montgomery
Dollie Hambrick, Montgomery
Beth Hardaway, Mobile
Presdelane Harris, Montgomery
Lawton & Nancy Higgs, Bessemer
Madeleine Hill & Bill Winternitz,
Tuscaloosa
Joanne Hinton, Auburn
Cathy Hoop, Brentwood, Tenn.
Shari Hoppin, Troy
Peter Horn, Birmingham
Andrea Hudson, Mobile
Harriette Huggins, Auburn
Gary & Kimberly Hyden, Pelham
Robyn Hyden & Zac Henson, Birmingham
Nancy Jackson, Blountsville
Rebecca Jackson, Montgomery
Frank & Jothany James, Birmingham
Karla Johnson, Tuscaloosa
Stan & Gracie Johnson, Birmingham
Calvin Jones, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Jerri Katzerman, Montgomery
Acquanetta Knight, Montgomery
Yvonne Kozlowski, Auburn
Claire Lawler, Birmingham
Glenda Leak, Arab
Marilyn Lee, Florence
George & Betty Likis, Birmingham
Emily Livant, Auburn
Ida Lockette, Mobile
Jack & Echo Long, Madison
John & Sandra Lott, Montevallo
Cindy Lowry, Birmingham
R.G. Lyons, Birmingham
Ron Manning, Brierfield
Marjorie Masterson, Huntsville
Roger McCullough & Bobby Cardwell,
Columbiana
Sally McElroy, Bessemer
Kathy McMullen, Birmingham
Mary Virginia Moore, Auburn
Ruth Morisette, Fort Payne
Gary Mullen, Auburn
Emily Myers, Auburn
Valerie Peake, Birmingham
Mary Elizabeth Perry, Mobile
Agnes Pollock, Birmingham
Mary Lynn & Walter Porter, Dadeville
Jackie Posey, Town Creek
David Potts, Marion
Hiram J. Powell, Auburn
Ruth Ann Powers, Phenix City
Stacie Propst, Birmingham
Amelie Ratliff, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Marsha Raulerson, Brewton
Rebecca Richardson, Helena
Helen Rivas, Birmingham
Teresa Rodriguez & Kenneth Walters,
Auburn
Ted & Becky Romano, Orange Beach
Joyce Rothschild, Auburn
Judy Roy, Bessemer
Isabel & Sigfredo Rubio, Birmingham
Nancy Sales, Birmingham
Jennifer Sanders & Phyllis Mark,
Birmingham
Flo Schneider, Fairhope
Margaret Schock, Birmingham
Kristina Scott, Birmingham
Josh & Quin Segall, Montgomery
J. Wayne Sellers, Guntersville
Allen Sexton, Montgomery
Anita Sherman, Montgomery
Ruthie Sherrill, Tuscaloosa
Dorothy Shippen, Prattville
Pat Siano, Foley
Maude Simmons, Birmingham
William Skoneki, Auburn
Frances Snyder, Tuscaloosa
Margaret Solberger, Spanish Fort
Camille Spratling, Birmingham
Lucille Stand, Auburn
Peter Stetson & Ron Bird, Jeffersonton, Va.
Cindi Stewart, Madison
Micki Beth Stiller, Montgomery
Karen Stokes, Pelham
Marilyn Stokes, Lanett
David Stout, Montgomery
Sam Sullins, Huntsville
Carl & Jessie Summers, Auburn
Kenneth Sutton, Birmingham
Paula Tally, Mentone
William Tankersley, Birmingham
Nellie Tiller, Spanish Fort
Lawrence Toups, Birmingham
Gordon Trawick, Montgomery
Chris Underwood, Birmingham
Mamie Van Dyke, Birmingham
Jim Vickrey, Montgomery
Cameron Vowell, Birmingham
Connie Wagnon, Birmingham
Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett,
Birmingham
Bill & Josie Walsh, Auburn
Lorna Wiggins, Auburn
Edna Williams, Tuskegee Institute
Jim Williams, Talladega
Mary Wilson, Mobile
Emily Winslett, Tuscaloosa
Newell & Mary Witherspoon, Huntsville
Barbara Witt, Montgomery
Carol & Ralph Womer, Auburn
Ruth J. Wright, Birmingham
Ruth L. Wright, Auburn
Carole B. Zugazaga, Auburn
America’s Charities, Chantilly, Va.
October 9, 2014 Page 4