A New Texas Law Erodes the Power of City Councils
The long-sought bill stops the state’s bluer urban areas from enacting laws that exceed state law on a number of fronts. Republicans say the patchwork of local laws were hurting businesses.
The Latest Republican State Laws Undercutting Democratic Cities
States have used preemption to undermine local authority on public school curriculum, LGBTQ civil rights, Covid-19 related health measures and voting rights, according to a new report.
In One State, a Threat to Freeze Property Taxes in Cities That ‘Defund’ Police
The proposal from Texas’ governor and other Republicans in the state comes in response to cuts and other changes that Austin made to its police budget.
Amid Pandemic, A Call to Rebalance State and Local Power
As flare ups between states and localities over the coronavirus response get attention, one scholar says it may be a good time to reexamine the relationship between the two levels of government.
Cities Take Lead on Coronavirus Response At Times, Leading to Friction With States
Debates over state and local authority could come into play going forward as government leaders decide on how to dial back restrictions and restart the economy.
A Local Leader On Guard Against Preemption in a State That’s a Hotbed For It
“These legislators are doing things without even speaking to, or thinking about, local governments,” says the city commissioner.
A New Look at How States Block Local Laws in Areas Ranging From Guns to Taxes
“This is a national preemption movement that is occurring,” says the CEO of the National League of Cities.
State's Ban on Uranium Mining Upheld by U.S. Supreme Court
The Virginia case involved questions about legislative intent and the power states have under an atomic energy law.
Mayors Eye Two-Pronged Attack on FCC’s Preemptive 5G Order
The latest effort is a new bill in Congress that would overturn the agency on its rule that strictly limits how much local governments can charge providers and how long officials can take to process applications.
Austin's Paid Sick-Leave Law Scrapped by Court
A three-judge panel found the city ordinance essentially regulated workers’ wages, which Texas law mandates can only be done by the state.
Washington Voters Approve Ban on Local Soda and Grocery Taxes
The initiative drew over $20 million of support from soft drink companies and others. A similar proposal in Oregon failed.
Supreme Court Hears Arguments About Virginia’s Uranium Mining Ban
The case concerns whether the ban is prohibited by federal law.
Cities Release Their Own Broadband Model Code
While a federal committee struggles to reach consensus on a state broadband framework, the National League of Cities created its own, stressing local needs.
FCC’s State Broadband Model Remains a Work in Progress
Local government representatives worry a new code will let wireless providers preempt localities.
Report: Many Cities Are Not Equipped to Go It Alone in the Trump Era
Despite calls for local control, communities are only given a limited set of tools and are facing historic fiscal pressures. That could be a looming problem for many cities, according to a new report.
Local Plastic Bag Restrictions Get Trashed by Texas Supreme Court
The legal fight involved the city of Laredo and marks one of the latest battles over local government power in the Lone Star State.
How Cities Can Respond When the State Legislature Says ‘No’
From defiance to exploiting legal loopholes, municipalities are trying everything to get around state preemption laws and maintain local authority.
In Taking Up Climate Battle, Cities and States Shift the Debate
Some city leaders looking to lead on climate change policies, reducing emissions in their areas and tackling other environmental issues. But state preemption laws sometimes stand in their way.
States' Rights Advocates Look to Double Down on Supreme Court Sports Betting Win
On issues ranging from sanctuary cities to telecommunications, activists are betting big on the Supreme Court’s sports gambling decision.
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Virginia Uranium Mining Case
A group of companies argues that Virginia's ban on mining for the radioactive metal runs afoul of federal law.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Help us tailor content specifically for you: