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Jared Salvatore, left, and Garrison Riegel, of Celestar Solar, carry a solar panel onto a roof in Schaumburg, Ill., on Nov. 30, 2023.(Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune)
  • Leveraging Federal Resources

New Tools Help Governments Tap Clean Energy Windfall

Local governments have a historic opportunity to leverage federal funding for local clean energy projects that advance racial, economic, and climate justice. Check out how to get started!
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LPCO State Download 🌟 | Welcome to Local Progress CO’s first State Download ⛰️✨

Check out what our LPCO members have been up to around the state!
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LPCA State Download 🌟 | Local Progress CA’s very first State Download 📣✨

Local Progress CA’s very first State Download 📣✨
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The Best Moments from Our 2024 National Convening in Oakland!

This was our largest and most exciting national convening to date – with more than 420 local leaders, partners, and allies, and 50+ different strategy meetings, workshops, and site visits, covering everything from workers’ rights, community responder programs, and social housing to welcoming new arrivals, federal implementation, and navigating the challenges and opportunities in elected office.
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📬 LP Network Download | Bans on rental price fixing tech, historic federal funding opportunities & more! | July 2024

Here’s a look at some of what’s happening across the Local Progress network this month.
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  • Housing

San Francisco Passes First-in-Nation Municipal Ban on Rent-Fixing Software

Today, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the nation’s first local ordinance, sponsored by Board President Aaron Peskin, banning the sale or use of software which enables price collusion among large corporate landlords for the purpose of rent-gouging.
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A graphic shows a large magnet pulling away money from a human's pockets (Getty Images | Retrieved from Minnesota Reformer)
  • Housing

Rigged: Corporate behemoths are using junk fees and technology to keep prices high

Algorithmic price fixing has played a significant role in double-digit rent increases across the country. These inflated rents are exacerbated by consolidation in local housing markets that leads to both higher rates of eviction and higher profits for landlords.
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An artist's rendering of the planned residential development at The Heights, a mixed-use development slated to bring 1,000 living wage jobs,1,000 affordable housing units, and strong environmental benefits to Saint Paul's East Side. (Image by LHB Corp)
  • Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Housing, Leveraging Federal Resources

Minnesota’s New Green Bank Is Powering a Net-Zero, Mixed-Use Development With Affordable Housing

St. Paul is tapping Inflation Reduction Act funds and the state’s new green bank to turn an abandoned golf course into a large-scale mixed-use development. Plus, it all runs on geothermal energy.
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A rendering of the development plans for The Heights in Saint Paul, MN.
  • Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Housing, Leveraging Federal Resources

How Saint Paul, MN is leveraging federal funds for justice

Saint Paul is leveraging federal funds for environmental benefits, affordable housing, and good green jobs. Find out how in our new case study!
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A construction worker carrying a large piece of wood in the hot sun with their face and body mostly covered up. (Photo courtesy Ivette Carolina Agudelo-Lopez + Yerba Buena Engineering & Construction, Inc)
  • Home Rule

Cities Want To Give Worker’s Heat Breaks. States Are Stopping Them.

As the climate heats up, LP's LiJia Gong makes the case that abusive state preemption is prohibiting localities addressing climate change.
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  • Housing

After Grants Pass: organizing to house all our neighbors

In response to the Supreme Court's cruel decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, we will continue to organize for housing for all.
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Small child receiving medical care reaching out from a bed (Photo by Dzulhaidy Abdul Rahim / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
  • Leveraging Federal Resources

I’m the Mayor of St. Paul. Here’s How Our City Is Erasing $100 Million in Medical Debt.

More and more local governments are using federal funds to relieve residents’ medical debt. Mayor of Saint Paul Melvin Carter explains why it's a simple, straightforward way to meet our communities’ needs.
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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:

Casar has always approached political work with the same mindset forged as a labor organizer. (Robin Jerstad)

Greg Casar Is Organizing to Win

A must-read feature of former LP Co-Chair and now Congressman Greg Casar.
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  • Housing

Multiple Cities Across the Country Are Resisting Rent Algorithms

Hoboken and Jersey city are two of the latest localities to join the nationwide movement to tackle corporate greed in the rental market and ban algorithmic rental price fixing.
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Portland Street Response crisis worker Angela Sands and EMT Kaya Ascott respond to a 911 call in Portland, Ore. (Kaia Sand)
  • Public Safety

This Organization Proved There Was an Alternative to the Police. Now It’s Being Defunded.

Portland, OR proved what we all know to be true: we keep us safe. LP's Reynold Graham talks to The Nation about Portland's program.
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A black and white image of Trump with a yellow background.

Ivan Luevanos-Elms and Sarah Johnson: This Is What Authoritarian Intimidation Looks Like

In this op-ed, LP ED Ivan Luevanos-Elms and former LP ED Sarah Johnson make the case that Trump's attempts to bully and intimidate local leaders is yet another sign of growing authoritarianism.
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press Releases

A group of local elected officials holding a letter in the Colorado state capitol
  • Housing

LP Members & Union Leaders Call To Overturn WPA Veto

Municipal Officials join labor leaders to call out the Governor for rejecting this Common-Sense legislation
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An image of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka
  • Public Safety

Statement: National Network of Local Officials Denounce Unjustified Arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka

In response to the reported arrest and subsequent release of Newark Mayor and Local Progress member Ras Baraka, Essex County Commissioner and Local Progress Board Member A’Dorian Murray-Thomas released the following statement. 
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty who was sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 speaking at the All Square restaurant in Minneapolis on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 where supporters gathered to celebrate her election. Mshale Staff Photo by Panashe Matemba-Mutasa
  • Public Safety

Statement: Amid Federal Threats, Local Leaders Stand Strong for True Civil Rights

In response to the Trump Administration’s so-called “civil rights” investigation into Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s Office, Local Progress released this statement.
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A large group standing around while one person speaks at a podium.
  • Housing

Road To Good Cause Campaign Scores 11 Victories Across Upstate New York

The coordinated campaign of local officials expand critical renter protections to thousands of tenants, setting their sights on Rochester next.
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  • Economic Justice

NEW REPORT: How Local Government Can Stand Up for Workers When States Try to Stand in Their Way

This new report for Labor Day 2024 highlights ways local elected officials can advance workers rights even when facing both hostile state preemption and federal labor law preemption.
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