“Preempting LGBTQ+ Rights: How States Undermine Local Leadership and Innovation on LGBTQ+ Equality,” is a 2026 update of a previous report, published as a partnership between A Better Balance, Equality Federation, and the Local Solutions Support Center.

This page houses amicus briefs and is meant to be used as a guide for insight into state preemption topics.

This map focuses on four of these policies: protections against source-of-income discrimination, the regulation of short-term rentals, inclusionary housing programs, and rent regulation.

By the middle of the 2026 legislative session, Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) tracked nearly 850 abusive preemption bills across states currently in legislative session.

This post by Alina Schnake-Mahl, ScD, MPH and Leah Schinasi, MSPH, PhD focuses on state lawmakers pushing abusive preemption measures about heat protection, or neglecting to pass heat protection policies.

This post by Jamila Michener, PhD explores how Minnesota has curtailed harmful preemption and enabled positive preemption, laying the institutional groundwork for the grassroots power.

This white paper tells the powerful and timely story of how abusive preemption has paved the way for the rise of federal authoritarianism – and how preemption is now being used to implement that agenda.

This post by Ruqaiijah Yearby discusses how recent state efforts to prohibit DEI practices often exceed the state’s authority and conflict with long-standing legal interpretations of equality that seek to address racial discrimination.

This post by Mary Bogle explores how Americans are looking for bold new solutions to entrenched problems like poverty and income inequality. High quality experiments on GI fit squarely into this space.

This post by Sandhya Kajeepeta explores how state preemption is fueling a racialized housing crisis, and Good Cause laws are at risk

This post by Cristine Soto DeBerry explores connections between Trump’s militarized crackdowns on cities and attempts to preempt progressive prosecutors.

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.

A look at recent legislative sessions and how state lawmakers across the country are feeling emboldened to continue abusing preemption to intentionally harm LGBTQ+ youth and deprive them of safe and nurturing educational environments.

A look at how the Local Solutions Support Center has tracked abusive preemption bills – in 25 states – that attack local authority on immigration policies in the 2025 legislative session.

Just seven weeks into 2025, we’re already seeing more of the same concerning activity as it relates to abusive preemption. Some of the most egregious examples of preemption bills have been introduced in Tennessee and Texas. Here’s a deep dive into both states.

Thanks to the relentless work of advocates, activists, and policymakers across our ecosystem, we have a growing sense of the tactics we can use to counter abusive preemption and call out its true purpose. LSSC’s new report can serve as action-oriented inspiration for both the well-tenured and emerging leaders whose creativity and passion pushes our fight forward.