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The Chevron Richmond Refinery is seen in 2023. In the summer of 2012, a massive blaze broke out at the refinery. | Eric Risberg/AP

California city’s $550m deal with Chevron could be a national model for environmentalists

California cities have a new playbook for beating Big Oil. In mid-August, Chevron caved in the face of a local initiative that would have taxed every barrel it produced within Richmond’s city limits at its century-old, 3,000-acre plant just north of San Francisco.
Photograph of police sirens in the dark (Photo by Michael Förtsch / Unsplash)

Traffic Violence Is Up. Policing Isn’t the Answer.

Traffic enforcement has a place in reducing traffic violence. But LP Legal Fellow Kat Kerwin explains that without a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy, it will fail to reduce fatalities and only put Black and Brown drivers in harm’s way.
Aaron Peskin and campaign events manager Hana Haber distributing information about the RealPage legislation in the Mission on July 29, 2024. Photo by HR Smith.

S.F. poised to beat Dept. of Justice to the punch, ban rent-fixing software

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance banning rental price fixing. If it’s signed by Mayor London Breed, which seems likely, San Francisco will be the first city in the country with legislation of this kind.

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.

📬 LP Network Download | Eviction protections, advancing CRE, new public safety video tool & more! | Aug 2024

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

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.

Good Cause Workshop Recap

On Tuesday, August 20, Local Progress held a virtual Good Cause workshop with coalition partners Housing Justice for All and For The Many. We shared organizing tactics, lessons learned, and strategies on how to replicate these wins across the state. Fresh off their housing victories this summer, we heard from local leaders in Kingston and Albany on how they won Good Cause in their cities.
A picture of a student writing on a board. The picture also has text for the CRE toolkit cover.

NEW TOOLKIT! 🧰 Advancing culturally responsive education in your district.

The “Advancing Culturally Responsive Curriculum” toolkit is a step-by-step guide to help teachers and school board members ensure their school curriculum reflects the diversity of the communities they serve.
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)

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!

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!

LPCA State Download 🌟 | Local Progress CA’s very first State Download 📣✨

Local Progress CA’s very first State Download 📣✨

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.

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.