The Spread of Preemption And How to Fight It Tallahassee Mayor - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

The Spread of Preemption — And How to Fight It

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum

Attack By the Gun Lobby

• Mayor Gillum and City Commissioners sued by the

gun lobby for voting to keep law that bans shooting guns in city parks

• Faced draconian penalties:
• Personal Fine of $5,000
• Damages up to $100,000
• Attorney’s Fees and Costs
• No Indemnification
• Removal from Office
• Launched Campaign to Defend Local Solutions

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

Extreme Forms of Preemption Super-Preemption

• Super-Preemption
• Extreme penalties for local

elected officials and local governments

• Allow special interest groups

to sue to bully and intimidate

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

Extreme Forms of Preemption Super-Preemption

• Super-Preemption is spreading
• In past year, some forms passed in

Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia

• Spreading into new issue areas
• Sanctuary Cities
• Intended to chill democracy

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

Who’s Behind It?

• Special Interest Groups
• NRA and members of the Gun Lobby
• Corporate Interests
• ALEC
• Koch Brothers
• Misguided State Lawmakers

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

What Have We Learned?

• Power of bringing together multiple stakeholder

groups across issue areas — labor, economic, civic, environmental, etc.

• Importance of public education and raising awareness
• f preemption’s spread and threat
• Making preemption personal — giving real examples
• n wages, gun violence, etc.

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

What Have We Done?

• Beat the NRA and gun lobby in court, twice
• Spread awareness of preemption through

millions of local & national media impressions

• Assisted in fighting preemption legislation in

Florida and other states

• Lent support to legal battles
• City of Cleveland v. State of Ohio — won
• FRF v. City of Coral Gables — ongoing
• Florida Multi-City Gun Preemption Suit — filed

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

What Can You Do?

• Spread the word about preemption: op-eds, letters to the editor, social media
• Organize communities to hold lawmakers accountable for preemption laws

that lower wages, worsen public health and environment, promote discrimination, and prevent cities from addressing gun violence

• Help us #DefendLocal
• DefendLocal.com
• Twitter.com/DefendLocal
• Facebook.com/DefendLocal

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com

Questions?

Twitter.com/DefendLocal Facebook.Com/DefendLocal DefendLocal.com