December 2, 2018
The Preemption Watch Preemption Map tracks state preemption of eight major public health and safety issues. Click on any one of the eight issues to see which states preempt local control. Click on your state to see whether local authority has been preserved or preempted across the eight issues. Discrimination: …
October 24, 2017
For this two-part series, Grassroots Change interviewed Beth Waitkus, Founder and Executive Director of the Insight Garden Program, which works to transform prisoners’ lives through a connection to nature and hands-on gardening programs in prisons. During the past 15 years, the Insight Garden Program has expanded across California, to two …
September 18, 2017
Part 1: Vision, challenges, and successes After 9/11, when someone asked me if I would grow a garden in San Quentin, I realized this was an opportunity to integrate my passion for environmental and social justice and an opportunity to find my faith in humanity again. Over the past 15 …
June 13, 2017
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 …
April 12, 2017
Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble… – US Constitution, Amendment 1 Opponents of grassroots movements have a new policy strategy in addition to preemption – laws punishing participation in rallies, protests, marches, and other …
March 9, 2017
Two months into the 2017 state legislative sessions, local LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinances and sanctuary cities have emerged as two of the leading targets of state preemption. As in the past, preemption proposals have been introduced in both states with existing local ordinances or policies, and those with no local LGBTQ …
January 15, 2017
Part 3: Legal Challenges Distract and delay. Two tactics the tobacco industry used for decades to slow the progress of public health are now being used by the soda industry, which in 2016 filed legal challenges against Oakland and Boulder’s soda tax campaigns and against the City of Philadelphia after …
December 14, 2018
KIII TV, Staff, December 13, 2018- A state representative out of San Antonio has introduced a bill that could change the way the City of Corpus Christi regulates the use of plastic shopping bags. House Bill 514 is an effort to ban single-use plastic bags. The measure would allow each …
December 13, 2018
The Colorado Sun, Sandra Fish, December 12, 2018- Seven of the top 10 corporate and nonprofit donors in Colorado’s 2018 midterm election were oil and gas interests that combined to spend more than $34 million — a total that exceeded the campaigns for both candidates in the governor’s race. The money primarily …
December 13, 2018
Go San Angelo, Daniel Valenzuela, December 12, 2018- Our Home. Our Decisions. That’s the theme of a Texas Municipal League campaign the City Council has endorsed voicing concern about state government overreach into issues and decisions that are best determined at the local level. The message is straightforward and sensible: …
December 13, 2018
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Liz Navratil, December 12, 2018- Six weeks after 11 people died in a shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, Democratic state Rep. Dan Frankel is seeking co-sponsors for legislation that would allow municipalities or counties to more easily create their own gun laws. Mr. Frankel, whose district …
December 11, 2018
MY Northwest, Hanna Scott, December 10, 2018- On the heels of their win with the passage of gun safety measure I-1639, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility released its 2019 legislative priorities last week. “This is the most robust agenda we’ve ever proposed,” said Tallman Trask with the alliance. “Usually, we have a …