Tracking Abuse of Preemption Legislation in the States: April 17, 2023

During the 2023 state legislative session Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) is publishing a regular digest summarizing notable abusive preemption bills and their progress through session. An archive of 2023 updates is here. Additional information on what abusive preemption is and how LSSC is working to combat it can be found here.  If you would like additional information on these bills or if you would like to discuss potential opportunities for tracking collaboration, please contact tracking@supportdemocracy.org.

Since January, GOP state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of preemption bills for consideration. As expected, themes from the 2022 legislative session – namely, preemption of education, election administration, and LGBTQ rights – continue to dominate this year's session. LSSC is currently tracking over 600 abusive preemption bills. Here is a breakdown by the numbers:

  • Abortion – 100

  • Education – 166

  • Elections – 81

  • Housing – 16

  • LGBTQ+ – 108

  • Prosecutorial Discretion – 21

  • TOTAL (includes topics not listed here) – 643

The six topics named above aren’t the only issue spaces where state legislators are trying to preempt localities – legislators are also working to preempt local governments from regulating firearms, enacting criminal justice reforms, and more.

Election Administration Preemption

As states look ahead to the 2024 election, they have begun to consider laws that will frustrate the ability of local election administrators to carry out elections:

  • MT HB 892: This bill would prohibit “double voting,” meaning that individuals could not vote in the same election in both Montana and another jurisdiction. Although there has been little to no evidence of double voting in Montana or across the country – despite candidates like Donald Trump encouraging voters to vote twice – this bill have the effect of deterring people from voting in the first place or targeting people who have recently moved from another state and re-registered to vote in Montana.

2023 Update – April 17Adam PolaskiElections