The Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) has long engaged with city attorneys in the fight against the abuse of state preemption, and, at the critical juncture we find ourselves in, LSSC is seeking to renew and deepen this aspect of our work. Through this Request for Conversation, LSSC seeks a dynamic project manager to oversee a six-month outreach and planning process, ideally beginning in July 2025, to develop a plan for re-engaging with city attorneys.

The Local Solutions Support Center has a new resource offering brief summaries of peer-reviewed empirical studies and select additional research, curated and summarized by LSSC to support efforts to (i) challenge abusive state preemption laws, and (ii) advance home rule reform. It’s available for anyone to use in whatever way is most helpful.

Meet Feroza Freeland, Policy Director of the Southern Office for A Better Balance. She is a Tennessee native who leverages creative advocacy tactics to achieve progress and deliver concrete policy wins for working families in the South.

We take a look at preemption trends in state abusive preemption legislation, even as the new federal landscape further emboldens state lawmakers to advance harmful preemption bills, with a particular focus on anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-DEI legislation.

Throughout the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, local governments have been leaders in securing new rights for LGBTQ+ individuals and families. However, the ability of local officials to lead on LGBTQ+ equality and protect transgender youth is increasingly under assault.

In an effort to carry out the federal administration's agenda on immigration, state governments are stepping in where the federal government is limited and forcing controversial immigration policies on localities through abusive preemption. 

Just seven weeks into 2025, we’re already seeing more of the same concerning activity. As of February 14, LSSC was tracking 344 abusive preemption bills in legislatures across the country. Many of them are in Tennessee and Texas.

LSSC’s new report, Winning Strategies for Combating Abusive Preemption, can serve as action-oriented inspiration for both the well-tenured and emerging leaders whose creativity and passion pushes our fight forward.

“Whenever we have a setback, that doesn’t mean it’s not the time to invest. In fact, that’s the time to double down. “

The fourth edition of The Local Power & Politics Review is now live – the latest edition of this annual publication that 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.

LSSC's Spotlight Series profiles just a sampling of our incredible partners in the preemption space. By sharing these profiles, we aim to highlight the important work of our colleagues and demonstrate how the different prongs of our work (campaigns, communications, research, legal and home rule reform) all connect and play an essential role in combating abusive preemption. 

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 these abusive preemption trends and their impact on our democracy. The report is an update to a July 2022 white paper from Briffault which first explored this emerging preemption trend. 

LSSC is piecing together the big takeaways from this year’s sessions - and the result is an alarming picture of how preemption is playing a central role in larger efforts to weaken American 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.

This memo from Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC), the hub dedicated to defending and advancing local democracy, details the trends our team is tracking during the first three months of the 2024 legislative season.

The piece was written by Jessy Correa, a program manager with Cornerstone Connections in Orange County, and a survivor of domestic violence who advocates for women; and Santra Denis, executive director of the Miami Workers Center.

Lawmakers in Tallahassee are poised to wrap regular session later next week (3/8), but there are a number of abusive preemption bills we’re tracking between now and then.

In 2024, state lawmakers are once again seeking to undermine local democracy and take power away from people and communities with preemption bills that weaken our democracy and the ability of everyone to participate in it. Here are a few states, initiatives, and bills to have on your radar in the days ahead.