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 State Campaigns, Organizing & Public Education

 
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 The increased use of state preemption intended to limit local lawmaking across a broad range of policies is a new phenomenon and educating and organizing elected officials, city attorneys and advocates are key to countering its abuse. Only when the national origins, aims and consequences of the rise in state interference are known and preemption is recognized as a deliberate strategy to weaken local democracy, can effective defensive efforts and offensive opportunities to protect and promote local problem solving can be organized and channeled.

Public Education | Building Your Campaign | Campaign Examples | Advocates’ Memos | Virtual Trainings

 

Public Education Resources

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State Interference: The Push to Erode Local Democracy
State Interference: The Push to Erode Local Democracy

LSSC helps to coordinate and create opportunities to counter the increasing state abuse of preemption and working to strengthen local democracies so they have they have the authority they need to protect and promote the health and safety of their residents.

FAQ about Preemption and State Interference
FAQ about Preemption and State Interference

You name it, and preemption can likely touch it. Most states have some form of preemption laws on their books.

Message Guide: State Preemption and the Effects of Limiting Local Power
Message Guide: State Preemption and the Effects of Limiting Local Power

This guide provides topline messages, best examples, and language do’s and don’ts to keep in mind when talking about preemption.

 

Building and Executing Your Campaign

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Digital Ads from LSSC and The Campaign Workshop
Digital Ads from LSSC and The Campaign Workshop

In recent years the Local Solutions Support Center has partnered repeatedly with The Campaign Workshop to create message-tested digital advertising toolkits for local partners.

Tennessee Campaign to Suspend State Preemption During COVID-19 Public Health Crisis
Tennessee Campaign to Suspend State Preemption During COVID-19 Public Health Crisis

On April 30, Odessa Kelly and Whitney Washington at Stand Up Nashville; Kelly Sue Waller at Bedford County Listening Project; and Bennett Foster at Memphis for All hosted a webinar focused on the Tennessee Campaign to Suspend State Preemption During COVID-19 Public Health Crisis.

Repealing Preemption: Lessons from the 2019 Legislative Session
Repealing Preemption: Lessons from the 2019 Legislative Session

Kim Haddow at Local Solutions Support Center; Desiree Westlund Cindric at United for a New Economy; and Laura Huizar at Local Solutions Support Center and the National Employment Law Center hosted a webinar focused on lessons learned from efforts to repeal preemption laws.

Case Study on Florida's Legislative Session and Preemption
Case Study on Florida's Legislative Session and Preemption

In this webinar from September 25, 2019, Ida Eskamani of Organize Florida presents on preemption work during Florida’s 2019 legislative session.

State Preemption Checklist for Local Officials and Advocates
State Preemption Checklist for Local Officials and Advocates

Cities and counties may have legal options to counter this growing reality of state interference, even though it can be difficult in many situations to challenge state preemption.

 

Examples of State Campaigns

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We Decide Tennessee
We Decide Tennessee

We Decide TN is a coalition of groups from across TN, brought together to empower local communities against state interference.

 

Exploring Preemption and Local Authority

These documents provide a summary of local authority and preemption in several key states that can inform advocates’ efforts to adopt new policies at the city or county level. State preemption laws limit or prohibit local policymaking in different areas. In addition to an overview of how local authority operates in these states, these documents provide examples of important policies that are preempted (i.e., prohibited), emergency powers that may be available to local officials, and ways in which advocates may expand their local authority through repeal of existing preemption and/or voter-initiated ballot measures. See the full archive here.

 

LSSC’s Virtual Trainings

The Local Solutions Support Center offers regular virtual trainings. Through this program, we will provide a deeper dive on specific skills and best practices, the latest preemption-related research and messaging, and opportunities to explore and learn together about how to best counter the misuse of state preemption and strengthen local democracy.

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New Preemption Public Education Tools for 2021 Session
New Preemption Public Education Tools for 2021 Session

Panelists included Joe Fuld at the Campaign Workshop, Feroza Freeland of A Better Balance, Hannah Kuhn of Stand Up Nashville’s We Decide Tennessee, and Judith Clerjeune of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalitions.

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Tennessee Campaign to Suspend State Preemption During COVID-19 Public Health Crisis

In this webinar Odessa Kelly and Whitney Washington at Stand Up Nashville; Kelly Sue Waller at Bedford County Listening Project; and Bennett Foster at Memphis for All discuss the Tennessee Campaign to Suspend State Preemption During COVID-19 Public Health Crisis.

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What Local Governments Can and Should Do to Respond to the Public Health Crisis

On March 24, 2020, Francesca Menes of Local Progress; LiJia Gong of the Public Rights Project; and Laura Huizar of Local Solution Support Center and the National Employment Law Project hosted a webinar focused on what local governments can and should do to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Home Rule: Principles to Action

On February 27, 2020, staff from the Local Solution Support Center and Fordham Law hosted a webinar focused on home rule and discussed findings from the new report, Principles of Home Rule for the 21st Century.

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2020 Legislative Session Preemption Trends (So Far...)

On January 30, 2020 Ida Eskamani of Organize Florida; Kim Haddow of the Local Solution Support Center; Chris Sanders of the Tennessee Equality Project; and the team at The Campaign Workshop hosted a webinar focused on trends related to preemption in the early days of the 2020 legislative session.

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Preemption Impact Research

On December 4, 2019, Jennifer Karas Montes, Professor of Sociology and Gerald B. Kramer Faculty Scholar in Aging Studies at Syracuse University; Mark Treskon of the Urban Institute; and Jennifer L. Pomeranz, Assistant Professor at the College of Global Public Health hosted a webinar focused on research about preemption and its broad-ranging impact.

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Repealing Preemption: Lessons Learned
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Case Study on Florida's Legislative Session and Preemption

In this webinar from September 25, 2019, Ida Eskamani of Organize Florida presents on preemption work during Florida’s 2019 legislative session.

Preemption Research and Messaging Training

This webinar, presented August 12, 2019, focuses on messaging research about preemption.