IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i17p10476-d895160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Preemption Can Lead to Inequity

Author

Listed:
  • Y. Tony Yang

    (Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, School of Nursing, George Washington University, 1919 Pennsylvania Ave. #500, Washington, DC 20006, USA
    Department of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington, DC 20052, USA
    George Washington Cancer Center, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW, #7000C, Washington, DC 20052, USA)

  • Carla J. Berg

    (George Washington Cancer Center, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street NW, #7000C, Washington, DC 20052, USA
    Department of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington, DC 20052, USA)

Abstract

American cities and localities have historically been places of innovation and incubation when it comes to advancing equity and inclusion. Now, local governments in many states are leading the fight for stronger public health protections against COVID-19—through mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, and paid leave provisions, among other actions. However, state lawmakers have long used preemption—state laws that block, override, or limit local ordinances—to stifle local government action, often under pressure from corporate interests and political ideology. Through preemption, state lawmakers have obstructed local communities—often majority-minority communities—from responding to the expressed needs and values of their residents through policies. In this article, we first look at the context behind preemption and its disparate effects. After establishing a conceptual framework for measuring disparities, we discuss how the current COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately harming the same communities that have been preempted from taking local action, limiting their ability to effectively combat the public health crisis. We argue that all stakeholders interested in health equity have a role to play in addressing the misuse of state preemption.

Suggested Citation

  • Y. Tony Yang & Carla J. Berg, 2022. "How Preemption Can Lead to Inequity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-8, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10476-:d:895160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10476/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/10476/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pomeranz, J.L. & Pertschuk, M., 2017. "State preemption: A significant and quiet threat to public health in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(6), pages 900-902.
    2. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303756_4 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hadii M. Mamudu & Fenose Osedeme & Crystal Robertson & Mary Ann Littleton & Daniel Owusu & Liang Wang & Donley T. Studlar, 2020. "A Qualitative Study to Explore Perception of Impacts of Preemption of Tobacco Regulation on Counties in Appalachian Tennessee," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Douglas A. Wolf, 2018. "Uses of Panel Study of Income Dynamics Data in Research on Aging," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 680(1), pages 193-212, November.
    3. Goodman, Christopher B & Hatch, Megan E. & McDonald, Bruce D. III, 2020. "State Preemption of Local Laws: Origins and Modern Trends," SocArXiv u2f4x, Center for Open Science.
    4. Christopher B Goodman & Megan E Hatch, 2023. "State preemption and affordable housing policy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(6), pages 1048-1065, May.
    5. Jennifer Karas Montez & Anna Zajacova & Mark D. Hayward & Steven H. Woolf & Derek Chapman & Jason Beckfield, 2019. "Educational Disparities in Adult Mortality Across U.S. States: How Do They Differ, and Have They Changed Since the Mid-1980s?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 621-644, April.
    6. Melton-Fant, Courtnee, 2023. "Corporate influenced state preemption and health: A legal mapping analysis of workers’ rights preemption bills in the US south," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:10476-:d:895160. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.