Who We Are
Local Voices, Local Choices is part of The Home Rule Project – a national 501c3 initiative dedicated to restoring and strengthening local democracy to hold developers accountable, create good-quality jobs, and lower housing costs.
Across the country, state preemption laws have increasingly stripped cities and counties of the ability to pass policies that reflect the needs and values of their residents. As a result, disastrous laws like the labor preemption laws Public Act 105 of 2015 and Public Act 98 of 2011, housing affordability laws like Public Act 226 of 1988, and numerous tax preemption laws have left our cities without tools to address residents’ issues. As a result, Michigan cities can’t hold corporations accountable. That’s by design – these corporations have lobbied the state legislature for decades to disempower local organizing because they’re afraid of being held accountable.
When local governments lose the power to govern, our communities lose the ability to protect workers, respond to emerging challenges, and innovate for the future. As a result, many Michigan cities are living under CORPORATE RULE instead of HOME RULE.
We’re going to change that.
OUR MISSION
Local Voices, Local Choices Michigan will work to restore HOME RULE and eliminate CORPORATE RULE by advancing research, education, and policy solutions that empower cities and counties – grounded in the belief that the people closest to the problem are also the people closest to the solution, and that when local governments set their own standards for wages, development, and community investment, cities will ensure that prosperity reaches every neighborhood.
WHAT WE DO
Local Voices, Local Choices unites communities, labor unions, nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and local leaders together to raise awareness around CORPORATE RULE and HOME RULE. We train community leaders and nonprofit members, educate local elected officials, and lobby for legal change.