In recent years, democracy reformers across the U.S. have been pushing back against state-level practices that undermine the ability of ordinary Americans to make their voices heard and ensure that government is responsive to their needs. But while battles over partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression have received wide attention, there’s also a growing effort to counter another threat to democratic values: state preemption. This is a practice in which state legislatures limit local authority, blocking the ability of cities, counties and towns to enact laws and make decisions that reflect the views and priorities of their residents. Fighting the widespread abuse of state preemption is an important way for foundations and major donors to build the civic power to defend democracy, while still operating within the realm of 501(c)(3) advocacy.
Weaponizing a Legal Concept
To be clear, preemption is an inherently benign legal doctrine that says one government can overrule a lower-level government’s authority. But the last decade has seen a dramatic surge in the scale and scope of state preemption bills—affecting issues as varied as environmental protections, firearms regulations, labor and employment standards, civil rights, public health, and more—that are designed to stifle local democracy. …
While both Democrats and Republicans use preemption to achieve political objectives, as a general rule, the biggest losers in the recent spike in preemption have been urban, racially and ethnically diverse localities with progressive agendas (i.e., minimum wage hikes, fracking and soda tax bans, gun regulations, and nondiscrimination ordinances like the North Carolina “bathroom bill”). …
Getting More Strategic
In 2015-2016, funders interested in advancing a wide variety of local policies began investing in statewide polling around preemption, and the Open Society Foundations supported comprehensive legal research to figure out what recourse remained to cities and advocates confronting state interference. The Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC) was founded by a network of funders and policy allies as a hub of learning and coordination around preemption. …
By 2016, funders had rolled out a multi-pronged strategy to fight preemption that included investing in grassroots organizing, communications, legal guidance, and policy education. For example, groups funded by the Open Society Foundations, LSSC and other funders helped stop state preemption of paid sick days— which had already been passed in three Texas cities. Key to their success was investing early in organizational capacity and grassroots organizing far in advance of the 2019 Texas legislative session. Early investment allowed grantees like Faith in Texas to train staff and build their leadership base to fight preemption throughout 2018 to prepare for a legislative fight over preemption in 2019. General support allowed Texas-based organizations to fight preemption across issues and levels of government. Long-term investment allowed grassroots organizations to boldly advocate for local ordinances that were likely to trigger preemption, while also building their capacity to defend those ordinances once they came under attack in the state legislature.
Excerpted from Inside Philanthropy. Read the full article here.
