State Preemption Laws
About this dataset:
In the United States, preemption is a legal doctrine that allows higher levels of government to restrict or even prevent a lower-level government from self-regulating. While it is often thought of in the context of the federal government preventing state regulation, preemption is increasingly used as a tool by states to limit cities, counties, and other lower-level municipalities from legislating across a broad array of issues.
The extent of a state’s ability to preempt local government depends on a variety of factors. These include whether the state grants local governments the power to govern (known as Home Rule) or whether the state follows Dillon’s Rule, which only permits local governments to legislate where a state has expressly allowed. Additionally, the type of preemption and the discretion of local government varies across and within states and from topic to topic.
This map identifies key features of state-level preemption laws in 50 states, from August 1, 2019, to December 31, 2023. The dataset captures express preemption (when the state law explicitly prohibits or limits the local government) contained in constitutional provisions and statutes, preemption identified in case law and attorneys general opinions, and certain laws that function as implied preemption in statutes and regulations. Specifically, the data displayed here examine state-level preemption in 10 domains related to the social determinants of health: (1) Ban the Box, (2) firearms, (3) mandatory inclusionary zoning, (4) municipal broadband, (5) mandatory paid leave, (6) rent control, (7) transgender rights, (8) local law enforcement budgets, (9) race and racism in school curriculum, and (10) election policies.
Previously published versions of this dataset included six more domains related to tax and expenditure limits (TELs): Full Disclosure Requirements, General Revenue Limits, Expenditure Limits, Property Tax Rate Limits, Property Tax Assessment Limits, and Property Tax Levy Limits. The data including those domains from August 2019 to February 2023 are still available for download. Explore the Data from August 2019 to February 2023, along with the accompanying Codebook and Protocol.
This project was created in collaboration with the National League of Cities and made possible with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.