The Override
State preemption is when a state legislature passes a law that blocks cities and counties from enacting their own policies. A city votes to raise the minimum wage. The state passes a law saying cities cannot set their own minimum wage. The city’s vote is erased.
25 states block cities from raising the minimum wage above the state level. 45 states have adopted express preemption statutes that prohibit local gun regulation. States have also preempted local authority over paid sick leave, rent control, plastic bag bans, and immigration enforcement cooperation.
25 states block cities from raising the minimum wage. 45 states block local gun laws. Preemption is how state legislatures erase local democracy.
This is not a new tactic. But it is accelerating. The Local Solutions Support Center tracked preemption measures across every state legislature in 2026 and found the trend expanding into new policy areas.
Tennessee Banned Everything
In 2026, Tennessee enacted SB 674, a law that declares all regulation of private-sector employment off-limits for counties and municipalities. Not just minimum wage. Not just sick leave. All of it. One bill preempted every local employment policy a city might consider.
A Nashville resident who wanted their city council to require paid sick leave for restaurant workers cannot get that policy. A Memphis voter who wanted a local hiring ordinance for city contracts cannot get that policy. The state legislature decided for every city in Tennessee that no local government may regulate private employment in any way.
Why It Matters More Than It Looks
Preemption is invisible to most people. A state blocks a city from passing a $15 minimum wage, and the policy simply never exists. There is no headline. There is no vote that fails. The city cannot even try.
The Economic Policy Institute found that preemption laws systematically target policies with broad public support. Minimum wage increases, paid sick leave, local gun regulations — these poll well in cities and are blocked by state legislatures that do not represent urban constituencies proportionally.
A PMC study found that state preemption of public health and labor policies is associated with worse health outcomes in the preempted communities. The policy erasure has measurable consequences.
Read more on the Red State Power Grabs hub and the attorney general overreach brief.