Fighting Back Against Preemption

As coalitions across the country work to enact paid sick days laws and other workplace reforms, we’re facing an ongoing threat – corporate lobbyists who pressure state legislators to interfere with democracy and stop local governments from enacting protections for their communities.

This practice of state interference, also known as preemption, pops up again and again across the country. The National League of Cities 2018 preemption report lists 162 preemption laws that have passed nationwide – including 19 laws created in 2017.

Whether the issue is paid sick days, pay equity, gun safety, or anti-discrimination, special interest groups are using their money and power to stop laws that have been passed by local government and supported by local voters.

“I want to have a voice in my community – that’s why I vote, take part in local hearings, and go to school board meetings,” said Diane Mohney, a retired school nurse. Diane became active in the fight to win paid sick days in the city of Philadelphia. After a bill passed there in 2013 only to be vetoed by the Mayor), state government in Harrisburg began their first of several attempts to prevent any municipality from passing a paid sick days law. So Diane and other coalition members took action.

“Pennsylvanians value our ability to make decisions that affect our schools, our neighborhoods and our communities,” she wrote in a petition against state interference. “We know what works best in our backyards.” The petition asked state legislators to “respect our voices, our democracy, and our families.”

Diane and the Pennsylvania coalition prevented state interference in 2013, and in 2015 saw passage of a paid sick and safe days law in Philadelphia. But state lawmakers continue to try to overturn the law, which has now been in effect for nearly three years. The latest attempt, HB 861, would take away not just Philadelphia’s law but many other local measures protecting workers from wage theft, gender discrimination, and unequal pay.

And Pennsylvania is not alone. In Arizona, some state legislators are trying to overturn a ballot measure passed in 2016 that raised the minimum wage and established paid sick days statewide. And in Minnesota, advocates are in year two of a fight to protect local paid sick days and minimum wage laws from being taken away by the state. Meanwhile, Congress is considering a national bill that would undermine paid sick days laws in 43 jurisdictions across the country and wipe out laws designed to protect workers from unfair scheduling.

We’re mobilizing a wide range of partners to safeguard our wins. But to fight back special interests, we will need your help too. Please take action on our site and connect with our network members in your state.

By Marianne Bellesorte, National Implementation Director