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New Tool Helps Local Electeds Create Community Responder Programs

The new resource - titled Reform/Transform: Creating a Community Responder Program - will support local elected officials in their efforts to create and expand non-police community responder programs.
Texas Tribune Article: Texas continues imprisoning migrants without filing charges or appointing lawyers, court filings claim

LPTX Chapter Manager Witnesses Dehumanizing ‘Operation Lone Star’ at Texas-Mexico Border

Last week, Local Progress Texas Chapter Manager, Kara Sheehan, spent two days at the Texas-Mexico border to witness Operation Lone Star (OLS) firsthand. Here are her reflections.
Local Progress Texas members at the 2022 LP national convening in Denver

LPTX Fall State Download 🍂 | Budget roundup, witnessing Operation Lone Star, & more!

Here's some of the latest news and exciting updates from our Texas chapter.
Parental leave approved unanimously for City of Houston employees

Huge Policy Wins for Texas Workers This Year

2022 has been a big year for Texas workers. From guaranteeing paid family leave and raising minimum wages for public employees to setting construction standards and supporting workplace organizing, localities across Texas have taken important steps to advance pro-worker policies.

October Federal Advocacy Roundup

August has been a busy time for the federal government! The big news, of course, is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which passed last week on August 16.

We’re hiring a Membership Organizer

The Membership Organizer will be responsible for organizing in non-staffed states, particularly in rural and small localities, supporting caucus formation and preemption programming, and co-leading the planning and execution of the LP annual National Convening.

The Network Download: Migrant crisis response, HB1 update and more | Oct 2022

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

LP Members Discuss Innovative Policy Making at Route Fifty Future Cities Summit

As part of this year’s Route Fifty Future Cities Summit, two Local Progress members participated in panel discussions exploring what the future of cities could look like with innovative, equitable policy making.

Workers’ Rights Local Government Round Up | Sept 2022

We have partnered with the Harvard Labor & Worklife Program to pilot this approximately monthly newsletter to share and celebrate innovative local workers’ rights policies that have been proposed and/or enacted across the country—and have included links to those policies where possible.

Lawsuit against anti-riot bill’s ‘defund the police’ provision advances

Five of the eight cities that filed complaints were OK’d to make their case. A Tallahassee circuit judge is letting a lawsuit against the “defund the police” provision in Florida’s anti-riot law move forward.
HB 1 posters with blurred viewer looking at them

Localities Stand up for Local Control as HB 1 is Challenged in Court

Today, over a year of organizing and community support comes to fruition, as the case will be heard by a court for the first time. The eight city plaintiffs are: Gainesville, Lake Worth Beach, Lauderhill, Miramar, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Tallahassee, and Wilton Manors.
HB 1 poster image: Our Cities, Our Rights

The Network Download: Abortion rights, worker protections, and more. | Sept 2022

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

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:

Image of brownstonehomes. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Cities lead bans on algorithmic rent hikes as states lag behind

Minneapolis on Thursday has become the fourth U.S. city to ban algorithmic rental price-fixing software, joining San Francisco, Philadelphia and Berkeley, California, in a growing wave of legislation aimed to protect renters from rental price-gouging.
Portland City Council member Angelita Morillo is championing a local ban on the use of algorithms to set rents, following a U.S. Justice Department antitrust lawsuit.Beth Nakamura

Portland City Council weighs ban on using algorithms to set rents

Portland, Oregon could soon be the next city to ban rental price fixing!
East Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, against blue sky and clouds. Photo: Tada Images via Shutterstock

Hundreds of State Officials Oppose Anti-Sanctuary City Act

Nearly 400 state and local electeds nationwide sent a letter to Congress today urging them to vote NO on HR 32 – a dangerous bill that would strip our communities of essential funding simply for undertaking reasonable policies that make all of us safer.
Photograph of the San Fransisco skyline. Photograph Source: Raydann

Social Housing Emerging in Cities Needs Local Govt Support

Local Progress founding board chair Nick Licata makes the case for local governments to support social housing.

press Releases

A large group standing around while one person speaks at a podium.

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.

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.

How Localities Use Community Responder Programs to Keep People Safe

This new video from Local Progress and Local Progress Impact Lab focuses on three specific localities: Durham, Oakland, and Albuquerque to explain what community responder programs are, how they work, and why hundreds of localities are starting to adopt them.

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.

Local Progress Condemns Cruel Supreme Court Decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, Local Progress put out the following statement.