'Preempting Progress' Report Examines How Southern Legislatures Use Preemption as a Tool of Oppression
A new report, Preempting Progress, examines how state interference in local policymaking prevents people of color, women, and low-income workers from making ends meet in the South.
The research in the report, produced by EARN, Economic Policy Institute, and Local Solutions Support Center, offers a new, compelling and overarching narrative that preemption has been used in the past and is being used now to prevent people of color, women and workers in low wage jobs from gaining political and economic power. Preemption, according to the study, is being misused across policies and state states to perpetuate white supremacy.
Key Findings Include:
Cities in Southern states have been prevented from passing laws to help workers including minimum wage increases, local hire laws, fair scheduling laws, paid leave programs, and other workplace protections.
Preemption in the South has blocked policies that would improve the lives of Black and Brown people – including local laws intended to protect the health of these vulnerable populations during the pandemic.
White, male majority legislatures in the South have stopped Black and Brown communities from making improvements through their own policy actions.