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  • School Boards

LP School Board Download 📚 | New steering committee members, removing SROs, attacks on DEI, & more! | April 2024

Time for our school board newsletter. This month, we’re sharing the latest news and resources around the fight to remove police from schools, DEI debates, and advocating for strong, equitable public schools across the country.
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A group of people listening to a presentation

Governing While Black: How the LP Black Caucus is Supporting Black Electeds Across the Country

Earlier this Month in Nashville, more than 20 Black leaders came together for the first-ever LP Black Caucus Convening. The group – which represented localities big and small, at all levels of local government – discussed what it means to govern while Black and how we can harness that collective power for transformative change.
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Group photo of the 2024 Leadership Collaborative

Local Leaders Nationwide are Building Power by Sharing It

Last week, over 50 local leaders and partners committed to shared governing power convened in Nashville, Tennessee last week to strategize and build community at the second-annual Leadership Collaborative!
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Factory workers and UAW union members form a picket line outside the Ford Motor Co. Kentucky Truck Plant in the early morning hours on October 14, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Michael Swensen / Getty Images)
  • Economic Justice

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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  • Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Home Rule

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. 
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Meet our new LP Board members! 🎉

As our network has grown and transformed, so too has our Board. Today, we’re excited to share some exciting updates and introduce our three new board members.
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  • Housing

Over 150 Current and Former Local Electeds Tell SCOTUS to Support Housing First, Not Criminalization

Grants Pass v. Johnson could give local governments the power to punish people for sleeping outside. 156 current and former local electeds remind SCOTUS that the only way to solve homelessness is to provide people with housing and resources, not to put people in jail.
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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.
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Two people passionately hugging one another, in what looks like a welcoming embrace after they have't seen one another in a long time. Photo credit: Griselda San Martín, Documented
  • Immigrant Justice

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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US Citizenship and Immigration Services has been asked to extend the work eligibility period for people with pending renewals on their permits to work in the states. Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images

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.
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  • Economic Justice, Housing

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.
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A picture of a woman in a mask holding a sign
  • Housing

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.
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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:

  • 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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An image of someone using a phone and computer at the same time (d3sign via Getty Images)

Report: How local governments can prioritize responsible AI adoption

Earlier this month, OpenAI & Microsoft lobbyists called for a shutdown on AI regulation. Our new report details the harmful impacts of unrestricted AI on our communities and what local governments can do.
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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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Local Progress is a movement of local elected officials fighting for racial and economic justice. We build power with community to reshape what’s possible in our localities.

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