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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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A person holding up a sign that says "My students can't read if they can't breathe" at a protest. Credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images
  • Public Safety, School Boards

Minnesota Local Leaders Send Strong Message to State Leadership: Prone Restraints have NO Place in Schools

The LPMN Organizing Committee sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy and Governor Tim Walz today urging them to oppose HF 3489 / SF 3534, which would repeal the ban prohibiting school-based law enforcement from using prone restraints on students.
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All seven female St. Paul city council members, four new to the council, were applauded after they were sworn in at a ceremony. photo credit: RENÉE JONES SCHNEIDER, STAR TRIBUNE

LPMN State Download ☃️ | Recent victories and highlights, #LP2024 registration & more! | March 2024

Check out what LPMN is up to!
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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:

Image of brownstonehomes. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
  • Housing

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.
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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
  • Housing

Portland City Council weighs ban on using algorithms to set rents

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

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.
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Photograph of the San Fransisco skyline. Photograph Source: Raydann
  • Housing

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.
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press Releases

Brave of Us Roundup: Immigrant Justice at the Local Level

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A yellow background with the text "No Buildout for Billionaires"
  • Economic Justice, Equitable Development

No Buildout For Billionaires

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Lessons from the Front Lines: LP Members Chart New Path Forward in the Face of Growing Authoritarianism

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How Local Electeds Can Tax the Ultrawealthy to Fund Communities

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Training Our Next Cohort of Comms Leaders

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