State Preemption of Local Government: The Philadelphia Story

摘要

As we have attempted to show, excessive state preemption of local legislation is a significant problem in Pennsylvania and one that has a serious, and, at times, dangerous impact on Philadelphia and its citizens. In many significant respects, our government is not able to protect its citizens from avoidable harms because we are hamstrung by the state legislature. And the problem appears to be amplifying over time. But in our view, this is more a problem of outsized influence of certain special interests, primarily business interests and those with libertarian perspectives, than it is of "anti-urban" bias, per se. To be sure, though, mistrust and resentment of city life significantly impact Philadelphia's relationship with its state government.