Blue Cities, Red States

Publication Date: 2016-08-22

• Author:Abby Rapoport
• Publication:American Prospect

..."PREEMPTION" LAWS ARE not new, nor are they necessarily about undoing local legislation. But with some notable exceptions, past preemption laws have generally enforced what can be called "minimum preemption": They force localities to do something where they might otherwise have done little or nothing. As it’s often said, they set a "floor" for regulation. For instance, the federal government has been setting minimum standards of environmental protection for years, preempting the states from allowing lower environmental standards. Similarly, states often set a floor for various local regulations, whether regarding pollution, trade licensing, gun ownership, or other matters.
These laws aren't about setting minimums; instead, they prohibit local regulation.

Most current preemption laws, by contrast, are what one might call "maximum preemption." These laws aren't about setting minimums; instead, they prohibit local regulation. States have prevented localities from creating paid sick leave requirements for businesses, or raising the minimum wage. Many who oppose these measures blame their proliferation on the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, which has drafted "model" preemption bills for state lawmakers to use. "Pretty much anything you can think of that matters to the American family is under assault by local preemption," says Mark Pertschuk, the director of Grassroots Change, which fights preemption laws around the country.

Earlier this year, a fight in North Carolina over Charlotte's anti-discrimination ordinance cast such maximum preemption laws into the national spotlight...