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Ford F-150 Lightning underbodies at Fords Rouge Electric Vehicle Center are inspected in Dearborn, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

📬 The Network Download: Centering Black workers, eliminating parking minimums, new resources & more! | November 2023

Check out what the LP network has been up to this month!
Plaintiffs in a landmark abortion lawsuit against the state of Texas stand outside Travis County District Court in Austin on July 19, 2023. Photo: Courtesy of Center for Reproductive Rights/Splash Cinema

Dozens of Local Electeds in Texas Sign Amicus Brief in Support of Reproductive Rights

LPTX members are speaking out in support of patients and physicians in Texas to demand clarity around the state's "medical emergency" exception to the abortion ban.
photo of people protesting outside the supreme court with letter signs that read out "Gun Safety"

Federal Advocacy Roundup | November 2023

Welcome back to the November edition of the Federal Advocacy Round Up, where every few weeks we distill what’s happening at the federal level, how it’ll impact localities, and what you can do to influence change.

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.

GET EXCITED! LP’s 2024 National Convening in Oakland, CA on July 25-27!

That’s right – #LP2024 is happening!
Ady Barkan (C) delivers remarks during a rally organized by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at the U.S. Capitol December 19, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Ady Barkan Turned Dying Into an Act of Love

Former Executive Director of Local Progress Sarah Johnson and NYC Comptroller and LPNY Member Brad Lander reflect on the heartbreaking loss of Ady Barkan and his inspiring fight to make this world a better place.

Remembering Ady Barkan

Today, we are celebrating the incredible life and mourning the heartbreaking loss of our friend and leader, Ady Barkan.

Spotlight On: Communities Rising Up Against Corporate-Driven State Bans

Check out this spotlight by our partners PowerSwitch Action on how communities and local leaders are exposing the corporations interfering in our freedom to care for one another.

📬 The Network Download | Supporting autoworkers, tackling zoning, ballot initiatives, & more! | October 2023

Check out what we've been up to this month!

Black Local Electeds Urge Biden to Center Black Communities in EV Transition

In an open letter to President Biden, more than 60 Black local elected officials from across the country highlighted the need to center the reality of Black workers as the country rapidly transitions into the era of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing.
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), center, marches with UAW members and supporters during a Labor Day parade in Detroit, Michigan, US, on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023.

📎 Federal Advocacy Roundup | Holding this moment, government shutdown averted, SCOTUS preview, and more | October 2023

Welcome back to the October edition of the Federal Advocacy Round Up, where every few weeks we distill what’s happening at the federal level, how it’ll impact localities, and what you can do to influence change.

Learning from Leaders in Milwaukee About School Safety

This month, Local Progress and the Local Progress Impact Lab brought two dozen local elected officials, community partners, and government staffers together in Milwaukee to learn about the work done to create real safety in schools. Read how the trip is helping inform work across the country.

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:

Small child receiving medical care reaching out from a bed (Photo by Dzulhaidy Abdul Rahim / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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.
Congressman Greg Casar speaks to protesters at the Governor’s Mansion against the Death Star Bill on Sept. 7, 2023. The protest was organized by the Workers Defense Project who want to protect the mandated rest breaks for workers outlined in local Austin ordinance. | Photo received from Kevin Kim (The Daily Texan)

Opinion: One Year Later, Local Leaders Must Be Bold Despite “Death Star” Law

July 1, 2024 marks one year since the City of Houston sued the state of Texas over the Death Star law. San Marcos City Councilmember Alyssa Garza makes the case that now is the time to be bold – to advance policies that uplift the very communities our legislature wants to silence.
social housing in Vienna, Austria

Is this European city a model for Philadelphia’s affordable housing? One Council member thinks so

Philadelphia City Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier and Kendra Brooks visited Vienna earlier this year with Local Progress to learn about its housing polices.
Photo: Josh Katz| The state should no longer design roads where pedestrians are just an afterthought, like this entrance to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

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.

press Releases

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.

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. 

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.

📬 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.