New Report – 'Protecting Local Democracy: 2023 Legislative Session Overview'

The big preemption story of 2023 is splashed across headlines nationwide: The Texas ‘Death Star’ 2.0 measure targets the fundamental ability of local governments to enact policies that protect the health, safety, and well-being of their constituents. The sweeping preemption measure also opens local governments up to costly, taxpayer-funded litigation against a universe of local policies that a corporation may not like.

The ’Death Star 2.0’ model represents an alarming new playbook for those who abuse preemption to take power away from people and communities – in one fell swoop, the legislation can eradicate local power over a host of critical issues. While the Texas law gained the most attention this year, Florida enacted a similarly sweeping preemption bill; and it’s a trend we at LSSC expect to see other states pursue in the years ahead.

LSSC’s latest report, Protecting Local Democracy: 2023 Legislative Session Overview, explores all the preemption trends that played out in states across the country this past year. The report also highlights what issues advocates are most concerned about as we head into 2024 – from an uptick in efforts to remove duly elected prosecutors from office, to how preemption is abused to undermine local election authority.