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
State lawmakers pushed more than 800 abusive preemption bills across 48 states this year. 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.
In recent years, there have been a growing number of attacks on states and municipalities that have taken action to protect LGBTQ+ youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion “therapy.” Logan Casey, PhD, explains more in this Preemption Research Spotlight.
This post takes a look at notable categories of abusive preemption bills from 2025 state legislative sessions that have become law or came close to becoming law.
The Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) has long engaged with city attorneys in the fight against the abuse of state preemption, and, at the critical juncture we find ourselves in, LSSC is seeking to renew and deepen this aspect of our work. Through this Request for Conversation, LSSC seeks a dynamic project manager to oversee a six-month outreach and planning process, ideally beginning in July 2025, to develop a plan for re-engaging with city attorneys.
The Local Solutions Support Center has a new resource offering brief summaries of peer-reviewed empirical studies and select additional research, curated and summarized by LSSC to support efforts to (i) challenge abusive state preemption laws, and (ii) advance home rule reform. It’s available for anyone to use in whatever way is most helpful.
Meet Feroza Freeland, Policy Director of the Southern Office for A Better Balance. She is a Tennessee native who leverages creative advocacy tactics to achieve progress and deliver concrete policy wins for working families in the South.
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.
