State Preemption is on the Rise: What it Means for Cities

As cities continue to grow in population and cultural influence within our Ten Across region, tensions between local and state governments appear to have exploded in the last few years over various socioeconomic, public safety, electoral and cultural issues.

Though preemptive action from the state or federal government has at times, been organic or useful in the past, a more concerning form of preemption has recently emerged — one which seeks to suppress or eliminate local policies that conflict with the dominant goals of certain state governments or special interest groups.

In this episode, Ten Across founder Duke Reiter speaks with Maresa Strano and Dr. Lydia Bean, co-authors of the 2019 New America report, “Punching Down: How States are Suppressing Local Democracy,” about the impacts of this movement against local governance and how it may influence the 2024 federal election