We defend and advance local democracy.
Across the country, local governments are taking the lead on tackling our greatest challenges head-on, enacting laws to protect public health, improve workers’ rights, reduce inequity, respond to emerging environmental threats, advance technological innovation and other policy solutions. At the same time, the increased abuse of state preemption is removing or reducing the power of local governments to act on policies that would meet the needs and represent the values of their communities.
Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) is a national hub that connects, coordinates and creates efforts to counter the increasing misuse of preemption and strengthen local democracy.
The Latest on Preemption
Updates from the Local Solutions Support Center
Don’t miss our new white paper, “Preempting LGBTQ+ Rights: How States Undermine Local Leadership and Innovation on LGBTQ+ Equality,” a 2026 update of a previous report.
Over the past 60 years, we have fought for, won and lost various aspects of racial, social, and economic justice – only to have our collective will preempted by conservative state legislatures who draw their political power and tactics directly from the Jim Crow Era.
As artificial intelligence (AI) use and data center construction continue to make headlines, state legislators are introducing controversial bills designed to expand the use of AI – and prevent local governments from restricting its use.
These trends are creating a new class of power brokers and oligarchs in the United States; while deepening the already painful inequities for others - particularly for BIPOC communities, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, women, and working families.
As the epidemic of gun violence across the U.S. persists, a number of cities have tried to pass strong firearm regulations tailored to the needs of their communities. Unfortunately, many of these efforts have been unsuccessful due to state preemption.
Many of the state lawmakers pushing these abusive preemption measures or neglecting to pass heat protection policies aren't in session during the hottest months of the year, and when they do work, it's under the constant hum of air conditioning. But many workers in their states aren't as lucky.
Resources About Preemption
LSSC and our partners have developed resources designed to help advocates end state overreach and strengthen the ability of local governments to pass policies that protect health and safety and promote equity. The information, strategies, and tools aggregated here were developed by and for attorneys, elected officials, advocates, and coalitions working to stop the increased misuse of state preemption.
View Resources by Type
Sort our resource library by our four core program areas: Legal, Communications, State Campaigns, and Research.
View Resources by Topic
Use these pages below to segment our resources – and partner resources – by topic area, from immigration to labor to technology.
Featured Resources
All Recent Resources
This page houses amicus briefs and is meant to be used as a guide for insight into state preemption topics.
State lawmakers pushed more than 800 abusive preemption bills across 48 states in 2025. Many of the preemption hotspots the LSSC team tracked - from immigration to anti-DEI efforts - align with the Trump administration’s rhetoric. In fact, it’s impossible to tell the story of preemption in 2025 without considering the impact of the new administration on policy making and people.
Since 2012, a growing number of states and municipalities have taken action to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion “therapy.” But in recent years, amid escalating political attacks on LGBTQ+ people across virtually every aspect of life, there are also growing attacks on these protections—including through abusive preemption tactics.
As many 2025 state legislative sessions come to a close, abusive preemption once again threatens local control of a number of issues. Across the country, states continue to advance legislation that interferes with the ability of local governments to tailor local solutions for local needs.
The Local Solutions Support Center has updated its resource offering brief summaries of peer-reviewed empirical studies and select additional research demonstrating the impact of these laws.
Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) is tracking nearly 600 abusive preemption bills so far this year - a significantly higher number of bills than our team identified in all of 2024. The new federal landscape is emboldening state lawmakers to advance harmful preemption bills - with a particular focus on anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-DEI legislation.