“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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

A new white paper from Local Progress and Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC), Driving Toward Equitable Traffic Enforcement, offers local advocates and policymakers a roadmap for advancing traffic safety policies that promote driving equity - while highlighting preemption-related concerns to keep in mind.  

Rick Su, Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, has written a new white paper for LSSC that charts the growth and evolution of immigration-related preemption measures in recent years.

A new white paper by Richard Briffault for Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC), Preemption of Local Election Administration, looks at how legislatures are working to advance abusive preemption measures designed to burden LEOs and limit their ability to promote democracy.

This paper is a brief update to our earlier white paper, “Preempting Progress: States Take Aim at Local Prosecutors,” cataloging attempts to curtail the discretion of local prosecutors. In this update, we also address successful efforts to push back against the efforts to strip power from local prosecutors and the communities that elected them.

In a new paper from A Better Balance, Local Solutions Support Center, and Equality Federation, we trace the local roots of LGBTQ+ equality in the United States and highlight the different types of abusive preemption that target local authority to protect LGBTQ+ individuals.

“This year, as ALEC marks its 50th anniversary, national groups representing hundreds of thousands of Americans are coming together to make sure more Americans understand just how harmful ALEC’s legacy has been and how toxic its agenda really is for our communities, our democracy, and our planet.”

In a new paper from Local Solutions Support Center, Curricular Preemption: The New Front of an Old Culture War, we discuss the growing trend of curricular preemption and its impact on local school districts.

Preempting Progress: States Take Aim at Local Prosecutors examines how as local communities have called on prosecutors to use their discretion to embrace reform and a less carceral approach to criminal justice, states have intervened in an attempt to force prosecutors to continue tough-on-crime policies.

Preeti Chauhan explores how some prosecutors are using their own discretion to create a less punitive and a more fair and equitable criminal legal system – and how state preemption can impact their ability to do so.

Some states have begun to use preemption to force localities to criminalize camping in public, taking local resources away from proven solutions that could address the root causes of homelessness. Rather than solve the crisis, this preemption exacerbates it by punishing people who can find shelter nowhere else.

Reforming home rule will look different from state to state, because every state has unique needs that must be addressed. Progress may come sooner in some states than others – but we can’t afford to not push forward. Pursuing home rule reform brings us closer to a reality where government and elected officials are able to fulfill their responsibilities and meet the needs of their communities.