On July 20, CityandStatePA posted an article that explained the concept of preemption.
City and State referenced a study by Brooks Rainwater, senior executive and director of the Center for City Solutions at the National League of Cities, a nonpartisan advocacy group that supports local governments. Rainwater describes preemption as follows – Preemption is a legal doctrine, aligning with the American federal system, that allows upper levels of government to restrict or prevent lower levels of government from self-directed determination of laws and public policy implementation.
The infographic (above) ranks all the states in order by which (according to Brooks Rainwater) they preempt local governments.
Connecticut at the very top is ranked the least preemptive. Then as you go around the wheel, clockwise, the states get more and more preemptive. North Carolina, just to the left of Connecticut, is the most preemptive. Pennsylvania ranks 11th.
Rainwater lists seven types of laws where states tend to preempt local governments. They are –
- Minimum wage
- Paid leave
- Anti-discrimination
- Home-sharing
- Ridesharing
- Municipal broadband
- Tax and Expenditure limitations
Act 1, a Pennsylvania law that is the basis of Arthur Wolk’s 5-years-old-and-going-strong lawsuit against the Lower Merion School District, is an an example of preemption.
Act 1 limits the amount that school boards can raise taxes without voters approving those increases via a referndum.