The fourth edition of The Local Power & Politics Review explores how abusive preemption legislation has permeated so many areas of American policy. The new edition covers a wide range of issue areas – from abortion access to local environmental action to LGBTQ+ equality to prosecutorial discretion.

The third edition of The Local Power & Politics Review features a series of articles that explore how abusive preemption legislation has impacted states across the country. The new edition covers a wide range of issue areas – from public health policy to local environmental action to public schools to public safety to elections.

Ramón Cruz, President of the Sierra Club, explores how some state legislatures are targeting private financial institutions in order to boycott or penalize them simply for adopting measures that consider climate change in their investments, constituting a preemption effort against proactive climate action.  

“New Jersey is a place with two major stories in land use today,” Noah Kazis writes. “One led by the state against local prerogatives, and one led by localities themselves. Understanding the relationship between those two stories may teach us much about what preemption can and can’t do.”

Cities must have the authority and flexibility to use tools proven to combat the causes and consequences of climate change and protect the health and safety of their residents.

During the 2022 state legislative session Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) publishes a weekly digest summarizing notable abusive preemption bills and their progress through session.

14 authors were tasked with working as advocate-researcher co-authors to produce short articles highlighting recent research findings, emerging issues, and data and research needs across seven policy fields.