Between January and June 2019, state legislatures across the nation continued a troubling trend of passing more laws forbidding or “preempting” local control over a large and growing set of public health, economic, environmental, and social justice policy solutions. Read LSSC’s full report here.
Read MoreIn the May 15th, American Prospect article, Blue City Challenge: Clawing Back Power from Red States, LSSC Director, Kim Haddow speaks about how conservatives have been using the preemption tool for several decades. Unleash Local is supporting a bill in the Louisiana State legislature, introduced by Democratic State Representative Royce Duplessis, that would overturn wage preemption once and for all. The bill would also allow cities to develop their own sick leave and vacation plans, which have also been barred by the state. The bill “doesn’t mandate anything,” Duplessis says, it “just lifts the restrictions,” though he concedes it’s “an attempt to give people an opportunity to have a living wage, just to have a fair chance.”
Read MoreOn April 25, 2019, in Charlottesville, Virginia, Circuit Judge Richard Moore ruled that the statues of prominent Confederate figures Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are considered war memorials protected by state law. Back in 2017, Charlottesville was the site of a rally where white nationalists protested the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee. A clash between protesters and counter-protesters turned violent, resulting in the death of Heather Heyer, which sparked a national debate over these controversial statues.
On Legal Talk Network’s Lawyer 2 Lawyer podcast, host Craig Williams is joined by Richard Schragger, professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law, and Nestor Davidson, faculty director of the Urban Law Center at Fordham University’s School of Law, to take a look at this recent ruling, the controversy over the removal of Confederate statues and what is next in this legal fight.
The Colorado legislature has approved a bill repealing a 20-year-old state law that banned cities and counties from enacting a local minimum wage higher than the state’s minimum wage. The bill now heads to Governor Jared Polis, and his signature would make Colorado the first state in the nation to repeal this type of restrictive preemption law. The measure restores the ability of local municipalities across the state to raise minimum wages and align them with local – and often rising – costs of living.
Read MoreThe Website, Next City published an article entitled, Colorado Bill Tries Again to Give Cities Minimum Wage Power on March 20, 2019. LSSC Director, Kim Haddow is quoted as Colorado is trying to pass Bill HB18-1368, Local Control Of Minimum Wage that would allow a unit of local government to enact laws increasing the minimum wage within its jurisdiction.
Searchable Map Highlights Prominent Examples of Local Affordable Housing Efforts Blunted by Preemption #EqualHousing
Read MoreA mapping tool developed by the Local Solutions Support Center brings together research from Grounded Solutions Network, the Partnership for Working Families, the Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC), the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the Urban Law Center, to document state preemption of inclusive and equitable local housing policies.
Read MoreThe New Republic published an article entitled “How Red States Stifle Blue Cities” on September 26, 2018 about how Republican statehouses have passed a raft of preemption bills to prevent cities from raising the minimum wage, strengthening gun control, and more.
Read MoreThe LSSC partnered with the National League of Cities to place a joint op/ed, Let the Mayors Lead, co-authored by Brooks Rainwater, Director of the Center for City Solutions and Nestor Davidson, Director of Fordham University’s Urban Law Center.
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