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National
Proposed Federal Bill Would Pre-Empt State and Local Paid Sick Leave Laws
The National Law Review, 11/13/201
Paid leave policies in the spotlight
Benefits Pro, 11/6/2017
A newly introduced House bill would let employers opt out of complying with state and local leave laws if they offered a single paid leave benefit and a flexible work option to employees, according to sponsor Mimi Walters, R-CA, one of its sponsors.
An end to the leave law patchwork? Bill would let employers opt out of state laws
HR DIVE, 11/3/2017
- A bill introduced in the House Nov. 2 would allow employers to opt out of complying with state and local leave laws, in favor of offering a single paid leave benefit and a flexible work option to their employees, according to one of its sponsors.
House Republicans roll out paid leave bill that would preempt state laws
Reuters, 11/2/2017
ALEC Urges FCC To Block State Broadband Laws
Digital News Daily, 11/13/2017
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is urging the Federal Communications Commission to block state or local broadband laws…
In the letter, ALEC argues that the FCC has the authority to preempt “local and state regulations representing barriers to broadband deployment.”
Comcast asks the FCC to prohibit states from enforcing net neutrality
Ars Technica, 11/3/2017
Comcast met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s staff this week in an attempt to prevent states from issuing net neutrality rules.
As the FCC prepares to gut its net neutrality rules, broadband providers are worried that states might enact their own laws to prevent ISPs from blocking, throttling, or discriminating against online content.
The Troubling Turn In State Preemption: The Assault on Progressive Cities and How Cities Can Respond
American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, 9/28/2017
Increasingly, states are attempting to shut down local innovation through preemptive legislation that overrides local lawmaking. Whether threatening to withhold state funding from sanctuary cities, precluding civil rights protections for LGBT citizens, or prohibiting cities from raising the minimum wage for their workers, these efforts are stifling local democracy. In some cases, preemption efforts have even gone so far as to impose criminal liability on city officials who merely vote for progressive legal reforms. This Issue Brief surveys the landscape of state preemption and offers “possibilities for strengthening home rule to advance progressive local policy-making at a moment when cities increasingly stand on the front lines of economic justice, civil rights, sustainable development, and so many other critical policy domains.”
Read the Issue Brief here.
Under threat of losing nearly $2M in state revenue, Arizona city moves to repeal bag ban
Waste DIVE, 11/2/2017
- Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office released a report in late October that said Bisbee’s bag ban, enacted in 2012, violated a 2016 preemption law barring local governments from banning plastic bags. This came after State Sen. Warren Petersen filed a complaint with Brnovich’s office — Arizona state law allows legislators to submit requests for investigation.
- That same state law allows Arizona to withhold tax revenue from cities that have ordinances in conflict with state law. Bisbee could lose nearly $2 million, nearly a quarter of its annual budget, if it does not change the ordinance by late November. According to Bisbee’s mayor, the council will vote on the new bill Nov. 7.
State tourism official warns of economic damage from “bathroom bill’
Arkansas Times, 11/3/2017
John Lovett of the Times-Record in Fort Smith reports on remarks this week by top state tourism officials and a warning about the damaging impact on tourism should Arkansas adopt a so-called bathroom bill that prevents transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity.
Cotterell: Sanctuary City ban has a chance next session
Tallahassee Democrat, 11/11/2017
The House Judiciary Committee last week approved a “Rule of Law Adherence Act” that would require cities, counties and other government agencies in Florida to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Unlike Virginia, Florida does have some so-called “sanctuary cities” – depending how you use that term – and we also have a governor who, unlike McAuliffe, would probably sign such a statute if the House and Senate pass it.
Florida House Reignites Fight to Ban Sanctuary Cities
Sunshine State News, 11/7/2017
A bill banning “sanctuary cities” in Florida passed its first and only legislative committee stop on Tuesday and will now head to the Florida House of Representatives during the 2018 legislative session.
HB 9, sponsored by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, would prohibit Florida communities from acting as “sanctuary cities” for undocumented immigrants. Law enforcement agencies and local government entities would also be prohibited from adopting sanctuary policies.
Rick Baker won’t protect St. Pete from Tallahassee attack on home rule, Florida Democrats say
Florida Politics, 11/2/2017
Citing the $350,000 he’s received from Republicans in Tallahassee to his Seamless Florida political action committee, the Florida Democratic Party is questioning whether Rick Baker would push back against such pre-emption if he were elected mayor next week in St. Petersburg…
Michigan
Gov. Snyder Signs Chamber-Backed Food Tax Preemption Legislation
Michigan Chamber of Commerce, 11/6/2017
We are pleased to report that Gov. Snyder has signed House Bill 4999 (Verheulen, R-Walker), which will ensure no local unit of government in Michigan can enact a tax on food or beverages. The Michigan Chamber played a key role in advancing this legislation, from introduction to final passage in only one month’s time…
Thanks to passage of HB 4999, the detrimental effects that locally-enacted sweetened beverage taxes have had in other cities across the country will not happen here in Michigan.
Lawmakers’ View: Duluthians deserve robust sick-and-safe-time policy
Duluth News Tribune, 11/8/2017
In short order, the Duluth City Council will have the opportunity to improve the lives of nearly half of all Duluth workers. Following the lead of an appointed task force, councilors can do this by crafting and adopting a strong earned-sick-and-safe-time policy…
As the task force worked diligently, the three of us, at the state level, fought off efforts to pass a preemption bill that would have stymied Duluth’s efforts to create better working conditions and quality of life for people who call our city home.
An Embattled North Carolina Seeks to Outrun a Law’s Bitter Legacy
The New York Times, 11/4/2017
The New York Times reports on the legacy of North Carolina’s HB 2, commonly known as the “bathroom bill,” which prevents transgender individuals from using the bathroom that fits their gender identity; the law also preempts local anti-discrimination policies.
Colin Campbell: Bathroom brawl is back again
Rocky Mount Telegram, 11/1/2017
Just when you thought North Carolina had moved on from debating bathrooms, House Bill 2 is back in the headlines thanks to a surprise move by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Cooper wants to resolve a lawsuit brought by the ACLU and LGBT groups that challenges the HB2 replacement law that Cooper signed in March. The replacement law – the result of a compromise between Cooper and legislative leaders – repeals the requirement that people visiting government facilities must use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificate. Until 2020, it bans local governments from passing nondiscrimination ordinances similar to the one in Charlotte that sparked the whole controversy.
The new law creates a sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” system for bathrooms – nothing explicitly prevents transgender people from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity, but nothing in state law tells them they can. The ACLU says that’s discriminatory, but it’s willing to drop the lawsuit if a judge signs off on a deal the plaintiffs reached with the Cooper administration.
In a setback to Murphy-Brown, hog nuisance suits can go on, federal judge rules
NC Policy Watch, 11/13/2017
A lawsuit challenges a pig factory farm in North Carolina; the defendants claim that the state’s right-to-farm law preempts nuisance suits was dismissed by Senior US District Court Judge Earl Britt.
Millennium pipeline proponents in court to fight state
Times Union, 11/1/2017
The company seeking to build a pipeline extension that would bring natural gas to a new power plant in Orange County has filed a case in federal court to head off the latest round of objections by the state.
In October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission overruled the state’s earlier denial of a pipeline permit for the Millennium Pipeline Company’s planned 7.8 mile connection to the CPV power plant being built in Wayawanda, Orange County.
That appeared to clear the way for the line to go in, but the state Department of Environmental Conservation filed an appeal with FERC and the federal Court of Appeals.
That prompted Millennium’s request at the end of October for a court declaration that the federal approval and laws regarding pipelines pre-empt state regulators.
Initiative to prohibit taxing of groceries
The Chronicle, 11/2/2017
Can Nashville Pull Off a $5.2 Billion Transit Makeover?
CityLab, 11/10/2017
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry announced a massive transit overhaul for the city earlier this month—one of the boldest municipal projects in recent memory, and easily the biggest in Nashville history. The $5.2 billion plan would introduce 26 miles of light rail across four new lines, four rapid bus lines, expanded bus service for existing routes, a major downtown tunneling project, and some two dozen transit centers across the city…
Enormous transit overhauls for major metro areas usually require state support, if not outright authorization. That priority of authority is more true of Tennessee than in many states: Volunteer State lawmakers have worked to preempt local authority on any number of areas of life, from gun laws to broadband to discrimination against LGBT residents.
