60+ Preemption Bills Already Pending for 2026 Session
Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) is tracking more than 60 abusive preemption bills that state lawmakers across the nation have already filed ahead of 2026 legislative sessions. Nearly 75 percent of the prefiled bills come from just two states - Florida and Missouri, where lawmakers in recent years have aggressively deployed preemption to consolidate power and profit at the expense of working people.
LSSC tracked more than 800 abusive preemption bills across 48 states in 2025. But the most striking trend from this year was the extent to which federal officials advancing an authoritarian agenda were modeling their efforts on the abusive preemption playbook. Pre-filed bills indicate that connection between state preemption and the authoritarian priorities of the Trump administration will continue in 2026. Here are the issues our team is monitoring ahead of state legislators returning to work, based on bills pre-filed as of the first week of December:
Sowing Distrust in Elections & Election Officials
Ahead of the midterms, lawmakers in some states are leveraging preemption bills to restrict how localities administer elections and how people can cast their ballots.
In Missouri, lawmakers have pre-filed legislation which would allow poll watchers and challengers to be present during early voting and as early vote ballots are prepared for tabulation. In battleground Arizona, lawmakers have filed a number of election-related bills. That includes legislation which would make it harder for non-profits and advocacy campaigns to engage in ballot initiative work; as well as a series of bills which would make it more difficult to return early ballots and eliminate the state’s Active Early Voter List, requiring Arizonans accustomed to voting by mail to now request a ballot prior to every general election.
These early bills follow a year in which many states introduced legislation aimed at limiting early voting periods and curtailing the time when absentee ballots could be received; and come amid a federal landscape in which DOJ is exploring ways to prosecute election administrators and has already sued officials in more than a dozen states for access to voter rolls.
Attacking DEI
More than a half-dozen states last year eroded critical DEI measures via preemption legislation or executive order. State preemption efforts spiked following President Donald Trump’s flurry of early executive orders targeting DEI. Ohio’s SB 1 law garnered national attention given its sweeping nature - it bans DEI trainings, offices, and programs at state higher education institutions, prohibits concepts related to race or sex from being promoted or required in training, requires all bachelor’s students to take an “American civic liberty” class, and increases oversight of faculty members. But a number of other states also took action against DEI in schools, state, and municipal governments last year - including Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
In the months ahead, Missouri will be looking to follow suit - lawmakers there have already pre-filed several preemption bills. The proposed measures would prohibit DEI policies in public school districts and charter schools; prohibit educational institutions from using state funding for anything related to DEI; and ban accrediting agencies from considering DEI practices.
LSSC recently shared a new blog post on anti-DEI preemption trends authored by Ruqaiijah Yearby, JD, MPH.
Dominating Local Democracy with Death Stars
Florida lawmakers have a penchant for passing legislation designed to satiate major corporations at the expense of working-class Floridians. The state in recent years has enacted preemption measures banning workplace safety policies like water breaks for outdoor workers laboring in the heat; as well as eradicating tenant bills of rights in communities all across the state.
Perhaps most notably, in 2023 the Sunshine State embraced SB 170 - a Death Star law which allowed businesses to challenge any local ordinance they didn’t like. Even worse, if local ordinances are successfully challenged in court, it’s the city and its taxpayers who must then foot the legal bill for the corporation which brought the challenge in the first place.
Now, lawmakers are preparing to expand the reach of SB 170. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have pre-filed legislation which would make it easier for corporations or others to challenge the enforcement of existing local policies. This would potentially halt any enforcement of local codes or regulations that businesses object to - like building and zoning codes, health codes, and more. And once again - the locality facing the attack on its authority will be left to foot the bill.
Styming Gun Safety Efforts
Local lawmakers who have sought to make their communities safer have often found themselves blocked by stringent (and expanding) state preemption of local gun safety measures.
In the months ahead, Missouri lawmakers are readying themselves to advance even more preemption measures against gun safety policies. One prefiled bill would prohibit homeowners associations from banning concealed carry on their premises. Other legislation would make it illegal for any local or state agencies to enforce red flag laws, measures designed to strengthen public safety by temporarily removing guns from those deemed to be a risk to themselves or others. The legislation even includes hefty fines for localities which try to move forward with any type of red flag enforcement - a punitive tactic commonly baked into abusive preemption proposals.
In addition to the 60+ bills pre-filed for 2026 sessions, there are nearly 300 abusive preemption bills which will carry over from 2025. More information on those 2025 legislative trends are available in our recent report, Blueprint for Autocracy: How State Preemption is Fueling Destructive & Discriminatory Policy Trends. To speak with one of our experts, please contact Rosa Colman at rosa@supportdemocracy.org.