Dive Brief:
- More than 500 bills introduced in 40 states last year contained clauses preempting county land-use authority, according to a July analysis by the National Association of Counties.
- Of the measures, 77% sought to impose significant changes in county land use authority, NACo said. Housing supply and affordability were the “primary targets,” listed as motivation for 38% of the bills, the research found.
- The states with the highest number of preemption bills introduced in 2025 were California with 64, Arizona with 36 and Washington with 35.
Dive Insight:
As counties work to address an urgent housing affordability crisis, state preemption laws are a top concern among county officials, according to NACo’s research.
While states and local governments are working with and often collaborating on solutions to the housing crisis, “state legislators are increasingly using the tool of preemption to reduce local government authority in housing development,” NACo said. Of the 511 land use preemption bills introduced last year, 192 “were aimed at reducing local authority in housing decisions.”
Several such state bills sought to limit counties’ ability to regulate affordable units in housing developments, or block counties from prohibiting housing development on commercial, public or religious-owned land. Others required counties to permit accessory dwelling units (or ADUs) or ease regulations concerning parking requirements. Some bills were also designed to streamline local permitting processes.
The most common types of housing-related preemptive legislation introduced in state legislatures included affordable housing with 32 bills and a 13% passage rate, accessory dwelling units with 31 bills and a 32% passage rate, and building permits with 28 bills and a 43% passage rate.
NACo also tracked preemptive land use legislation related to energy and economic development that encompassed “throughlines of the removal of local control that will affect the ability of counties to work with both our communities and states to zone land and further local priorities and needs,” NACo said in its analysis.
Nearly 30% of housing preemption bills were successful, according to NACo.
Some state leaders have been critical of the slow pace of housing development in cities and counties.
“Often, the problem is a failure to modernize and keep up with the changing times we live in,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in proposing a statewide zoning measure earlier this year. “It all adds up to bureaucratic red tape that unnecessarily increases costs, delays construction and frequently kills projects altogether.” The state’s preemptive zoning ultimately did not get called for a vote in the state legislature.
