Drew Wilson
Home-rule advocates Campaign to Defend Local Solutions announced Monday that it is adding Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the National Black Justice Coalition as official partners.
“The spectrum of voices speaking out for home rule and against heavy-handed state pre-emption continues to grow,” said CDLS campaign manager Michael Alfano. “From protecting equality laws to preventing gun violence, our partner organizations and elected officials know that the government closest to the people governs best, and we’re grateful for their efforts.”
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a bipartisan group of more than 1,000 current and former mayors that advocates for common-sense gun laws, while the National Black Justice Coalition is the country’s leading black LGBTQ civil rights organization.
CDLS said the new members came on board after CDLS got exposure through a People Magazine web series, and articles in The Nation and The Atlantic’s CityLab. Also last week, 15 local elected officials and CDLS members authored an op-ed on the threat of state pre-emption that was published on FloridaPolitics.com and other outlets.
The Campaign to Defend Local Solutions was launched by Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum in January and include in its membership elected officials from 15 states as well as local and national organizations.
CDLS was formed to fight against local government pre-emption laws passed by state legislatures, which it claims are often pushed through by “shadowy special interests and unaccountable lobbyists.”
“They don’t like when we as a community pass laws to ban smoking, protect our environment, raise wages, ensure local hiring, and prevent gun violence. But we stand with you, the people — not corporate bottom lines,” the group says on its website.
