State lawmakers are advancing a grab-bag of bills to preempt local government authority again in 2026, including measures that affect employment law and imitate the Trump administration’s views of DEI and gender identity.
Florida and Iowa legislators have won statehouse approval of preemption bills restricting local governments’ diversity policies and enforcement of anti-discrimination ordinances, respectively. Tennessee, meanwhile, enacted a sweeping law (SB 674) last month that declares all regulation of private-sector employment off limits for counties and municipalities.
Such measures, nearly all sponsored by Republicans, continue a perennial tradition of state lawmakers exploring new ways to limit the authority of local governments. The bills often aim to rein in what their supporters see as overly burdensome regulation by more left-leaning city councils. They’ve often covered single issues such as minimum wage or paid sick leave, but at times target broader policy categories, as in Tennessee’s law.
Some states this year are considering ways to use preemption bills to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda. The president has demanded cutting of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the federal government level and among contractors, while simultaneously calling for federal civil rights enforcers to target corporations’ diversity work as discriminatory.
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