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A graphic shows a large magnet pulling away money from a human's pockets (Getty Images | Retrieved from Minnesota Reformer)
  • Housing

Rigged: Corporate behemoths are using junk fees and technology to keep prices high

Algorithmic price fixing has played a significant role in double-digit rent increases across the country. These inflated rents are exacerbated by consolidation in local housing markets that leads to both higher rates of eviction and higher profits for landlords.
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An artist's rendering of the planned residential development at The Heights, a mixed-use development slated to bring 1,000 living wage jobs,1,000 affordable housing units, and strong environmental benefits to Saint Paul's East Side. (Image by LHB Corp)
  • Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Federal Response and Advocacy, Housing

Minnesota’s New Green Bank Is Powering a Net-Zero, Mixed-Use Development With Affordable Housing

St. Paul is tapping Inflation Reduction Act funds and the state’s new green bank to turn an abandoned golf course into a large-scale mixed-use development. Plus, it all runs on geothermal energy.
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A rendering of the development plans for The Heights in Saint Paul, MN.
  • Climate Justice, Economic Justice, Federal Response and Advocacy, Housing

How Saint Paul, MN is leveraging federal funds for justice

Saint Paul is leveraging federal funds for environmental benefits, affordable housing, and good green jobs. Find out how in our new case study!
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A construction worker carrying a large piece of wood in the hot sun with their face and body mostly covered up. (Photo courtesy Ivette Carolina Agudelo-Lopez + Yerba Buena Engineering & Construction, Inc)
  • Home Rule

Cities Want To Give Worker’s Heat Breaks. States Are Stopping Them.

As the climate heats up, LP's LiJia Gong makes the case that abusive state preemption is prohibiting localities addressing climate change.
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  • Housing

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

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.
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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)
  • Home Rule

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.
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social housing in Vienna, Austria
  • Housing

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.
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📬 LP Network Download | SCOTUS decision on criminalizing homelessness, basic income success, social housing & more! | June 2024

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

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.
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  • Housing

Philadelphia Councilmembers Find Lessons in Affordable Housing from Berlin and Vienna

In this blog post from Global Philadelphia, Local Progress members and Philadelphia City Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Jamie Gauthier talk about their recent trip to learn about social housing in Vienna and Berlin with Local Progress and lessons they're bringing back home.
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A selfie with LPMN members Aisha Chughtai, Robin Wonsley, Jason Chavez, and Aurin Chowdhury; and state reps Senator Omar Fateh and Rep Hodan Hassan

LPMN State Download 🌟 | Local & state action, new co-chairs, National Convening, & more! | June 2024

Over the past couple of months, LPMN members have been fighting for change at the local and state level – from housing to public safety to securing protections for workers. 
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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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