UPDATE: New Preemption Map Issue: PLASTICS

September 10, 2019

Single-use plastics have created a major threat to the environment. As in the case of the other issues tracked in the Grassroots Change Preemption Map, much of the recent success in regulating or banning plastic bags and other “auxiliary containers” has come at the local level. In response, the plastics industry, …

How one state beat the NRA and passed the strongest gun laws in the nation

August 10, 2019

UPDATE: State Firearm Preemption Laws

August 6, 2019

In the 1970s and 80s, the gun lobby faced the threat of an effective national movement to prevent gun violence. To stop that grassroots movement, the NRA borrowed a page from the tobacco industry’s playbook and promoted state preemption of local gun laws. They succeeded in 43 states, but in the handful of states that …

Combatting and Preventing Preemption: A Strategic Action Model

July 25, 2019

M, Zellers L, Sullivan PA; Pomeranz JL, Pertschuk M.Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. March/April 2019;25:101–103. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000956. This 4-part model provides a framework for strategies that have been used effectively by public health advocates, most notably in the tobacco control arena, who have countered and even repealed state …

Soda Taxes: Building a National Movement (and Fighting Preemption) One Victory at a Time

October 13, 2018

It’s very easy to be cynical about politics. I can be cynical as well. But seeing policies being guided by a grassroots movement, with people who wanted to make this happen at all levels of power in the city, was inspiring. — Sara Soka, former Campaign Manager, Berkeley vs. Big Soda …