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📬 LP Network Download | How localities are investing federal funds, affordable housing for educators, & more! | March 2024
Here’s a look at some of what’s happening across the Local Progress network this month.
- Immigrant Justice
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New Resource Helps Local Electeds Reframe Crisis to Care: Welcoming New Arrivals
New messaging guide will help local elected officials speak publicly and proactively about welcoming and supporting new arrivals in their communities.
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Immigrant Advocates Push Work Permit Fix as Deadlines Near
LP member Pious Ali – a city council member in Portland, Maine – stresses the importance of work authorization for new arrivals. “They are transforming the face of the workforce and the face of the community in a very positive way,” he said.
- Economic Justice, Housing
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How Corporate Landlords are Colluding to Hike up Rents – And How Localities Can Fight Back
Across the country, landlords are turning to a new tool to raise rents and further exacerbate the housing crisis: software algorithms. Third party service providers like RealPage offer recommendations to landlords that promise to boost their profits while driving up housing costs. Our new memo explains what rent-setting software algorithms are and how local electeds can take action to protect their communities.
- Housing
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Over 50 Local Electeds Across New York Demand Good Cause Now
This week, nearly 60 Local Progress members from across New York sent a letter to Governor Hochul, along with legislative leadership in Albany, demanding the passage of Good Cause Eviction protections (S305/A4454). New York’s housing crisis is at a tipping point, with evictions rising in 40 of the state’s 62 counties and average rents across the state ranking among the top ten in the nation.
- Public Safety, School Boards
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Minnesota Local Leaders Send Strong Message to State Leadership: Prone Restraints have NO Place in Schools
The LPMN Organizing Committee sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and Governor Tim Walz today urging them to oppose HF 3489 / SF 3534, which would repeal the ban prohibiting school-based law enforcement from using prone restraints on students.
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LPMN State Download ☃️ | Recent victories and highlights, #LP2024 registration & more! | March 2024
Check out what LPMN is up to!
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📬 LP Network Download | Police-free schools, protecting local democracy, veto overrides, choosing welcome, & more! | February 2024
Here’s a look at some of what’s happening across the Local Progress network this month.
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LPTX State Download ❄️ | Organizing to defend reproductive rights & local control, plus upcoming events! | February 2024
Our Texas chapter has been hitting the ground running this year on several issues already! Check out what they are up to!
- School Boards
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LP School Board Download 📚 | States’ voucher push, honest education, an important staff update | February 2024
Check out our newsletter about all things school board! This month, we’re sharing the latest news and resources around defending LGBTQ+ rights, fighting voucher expansion, and advocating for strong, equitable public schools across the country.
- Home Rule
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Pre-Preemption
Conservative states have now taken to blocking liberal cities from even thinking about legislating on behalf of their residents. LP's Francesca Menes weighs in.
- Public Safety
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Philly councilmember among group calling for recall Kia, Hyundai vehicles due to alarming theft rate
Philadelphia City Councilmember Kendra Brooks has joined a group of elected leaders from around the country, demanding a federal recall of Kia and Hyundai vehicles over the alarming theft rate nationwide.
Have a Media Inquiry?
Local Progress is a movement of local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government. We are elected leaders who build power with underrepresented communities and fight to reshape what is possible in our localities all across the country.
Want to get in touch with us for a story? Reach us at press@localprogress.org.
In The News
At Local Progress, we seek to make the aspirational pragmatic by showing how government can be a tool to create just and equitable outcomes and reshaping peoples’ understanding of governing from an institution to a collective responsibility. Here are some highlights of our media coverage:
- Climate Justice
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New York Pols Back Gounardes’s Bill to Cut Driving by 20%
For decades, transit planners have widened roads and expanded highways as cities have grown. But these interventions have only increased traffic and worsened pollution. LP members in New York wrote to legislative leaders demanding state DOT take a new approach to planning.
- Economic Justice
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Workplace Militancy Isn’t Enough for Labor
Progressive labor movement must collaborate with like-minded local, state, and federal elected officials through networks such as Local Progress, the State Innovation Exchange, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus to expand and sustain hard-won gains.
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Immigrant Advocates Push Work Permit Fix as Deadlines Near
LP member Pious Ali – a city council member in Portland, Maine – stresses the importance of work authorization for new arrivals. “They are transforming the face of the workforce and the face of the community in a very positive way,” he said.
- Home Rule
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Pre-Preemption
Conservative states have now taken to blocking liberal cities from even thinking about legislating on behalf of their residents. LP's Francesca Menes weighs in.
press Releases
- Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Home Rule
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180+ State and Local Elected Officials Urge Congress to Reject the EATS Act
LP and the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) released letters calling on Congress to protect local and state governments ability to create policy that is responsive to the issues their own communities face in the agricultural industry.
- Immigrant Justice
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Local Leaders Denounce Senate Deal That Would Gut Asylum
In response to the Senate’s proposed border deal that would gut asylum in exchange for foreign military spending, Local Progress released this statement.
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📬 LP Network Download | Traffic safety, ceasefire, history in Minnesota, & more! | January 2024
Here’s a look at some of what’s happening across the Local Progress network this month.
- Public Safety
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Local Electeds Call on NHTSA to Recall Kia & Hyundai with Theft Vulnerabilities
A coalition representing elected officials from 8 municipalities across the country – including Baltimore, New York City, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Austin – called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to issue a recall of Kia and Hyundai models with theft vulnerabilities.
- Housing
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Local Progress joins 100 tenants in DC at Homes Guarantee’s Tenant Takeover
Local Progress joined over 100 tenants at Homes Guarantee's Tenant Takeover to urge the federal government for vital tenant protections.
