Model Local Resolution Calling For Local Authority to Adopt Housing Protections During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Note: This resource – a model local resolution – was produced by Local Solutions Support Center. View the designed resource here. And click here to view the text of the resolution itself.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads and states reopen, local elected officials and advocates are asking what power they have to help their communities across a range of policies, including those that respond to pressing housing and homelessness needs. 

In many cases, advocates and local officials are finding that their authority to implement urgent housing solutions and support is limited, if not entirely preempted, by state law. In other cases, they are finding that their authority to adopt the housing-related policies residents need most is not clear, and taking local action could subject the local government to a legal challenge based on state preemption. In other states, local governments have found they have the authority to act. 

Local advocates and officials could save crucial time as they determine what they can do locally if their state legislature or governor asserted and clarified local authority pertaining to housing solutions. This model resolution is geared towards helping local officials and advocates push their legislature and governor to do just that.