“State takeovers of public schools and districts is one prong of a multi-prong approach to dismantling resistance to oppressive legislation,” Steven L. Nelson, Ph.D. writes.
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The scope of abusive preemption bills is widening – from Death Star preemption; to efforts to undermine the power of reform-oriented prosecutors; to discriminating against transgender youth; to making it harder for local officials to successfully conduct elections. LSSC’s mid-session report explores the top trends we’re tracking so far this session, as well as a few promising victories that advocates are securing.
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This resource from ChangeLab Solutions and the Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC), newly updated for 2023, provides advocates with the research and data they need to document the harmful consequences of preemption and advocate for repealing inequitable preemption laws.
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Despite the growing threat of abusive preemption, LSSC and our partners across the country secured important wins in 2022 – in state houses, in the courts, and in organizing spaces. We learned lessons and developed best practices that are already strengthening our work as the national hub countering abusive preemption and strengthening democracy as we head into 2023. This new report highlights some of the Local Solutions Support Center’s key activities to support the field and push back against abusive preemption in 2022.
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Ramón Cruz, President of the Sierra Club, explores how some state legislatures are targeting private financial institutions in order to boycott or penalize them simply for adopting measures that consider climate change in their investments, constituting a preemption effort against proactive climate action.
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Preeti Chauhan explores how some prosecutors are using their own discretion to create a less punitive and a more fair and equitable criminal legal system – and how state preemption can impact their ability to do so.
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Mildred E. Warner of Cornell University explores how abusive state preemption legislation suppresses wages, undermining inclusive growth. Warner explains how we can promote more inclusive growth by raising returns to labor.
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Courtnee Melton-Fant shares the story of Boxtown, a majority black neighborhood in Memphis harmed by the abuse of preemption.
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In this report, LSSC tracks how abusive preemption was used during the 2022 legislative session by state lawmakers at the behest of corporations to undermine local authority, particularly on public health authority, LGBTQ rights, and democracy & voting rights.
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“New Jersey is a place with two major stories in land use today,” Noah Kazis writes. “One led by the state against local prerogatives, and one led by localities themselves. Understanding the relationship between those two stories may teach us much about what preemption can and can’t do.”
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In the name of personal responsibility, individual freedom, the free market, and partisanship, many states are preventing local leaders from protecting workers, low-income families, public health, the environment, among others, while failing to do so themselves. What is a locality to do?
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This resource provides advocates with the research and data they need to document the harmful consequences of preemption and advocate for repealing inequitable preemption laws.
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The second edition features a series of articles that explore how some states preempted local authority across a host of issues during the pandemic.
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This map focuses on four of these policies: protections against source-of-income discrimination, the regulation of short-term rentals, inclusionary housing programs, and rent regulation.
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A new white paper from LSSC explores in more detail how some state legislatures are using preemption to undermine local control of police budgeting, accountability, and management.
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This new report highlights how state lawmakers in the Midwest have abused preemption to impede progress on a variety of issues that would improve the economic security and well-being of residents.
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The Local Solutions Support Center’s (LSSC) report explores 2021 legislative activity in more detail. Overall in the session, LSSC tracked over 400 preemption bills – more than two times the number of bills tracked during the 2019 session.
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This report reveals how the growing abuse of preemption over the last decade forced many municipalities to start from behind when responding to the pandemic, and highlights the issue areas advocates are preparing to defend from state interference in the months ahead.
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We examine the use and merits of the patchwork argument across 10 policy areas and review the evidence around the patchwork argument’s merits.
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This resource takes a look at how states and cities responded to the pandemic.
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