Who holds the Police Power? Exploring local government regulatory authority to enact childhood obesity policies in 10 states

One basic tenet of the American legal framework is that states and local governments have broad authority to act in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the public. This “police power” gives governments the ability to make laws and regulations that address public health issues, including those to prevent obesity. Although the police power is often discussed generically across all states and localities, individual states establish local government powers in different ways. Under the traditional “Dillon's Rule,” local government authority is significantly limited to only those powers specifically delegated to them by state law. Most states have established a greater measure of local “home rule,” which affords local governments greater autonomy to pass laws and regulations on a broader variety of subjects. However, exactly how much authority and autonomy varies from state to state. This presentation surveys local “home rule” authority in ten states (Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia), and then analyzes the prospects for success of adopting anti-obesity food retail ordinances in these states. The prospects for success of adopting these anti-obesity ordinances in each of the surveyed states is a product of the local home rule authority analysis, as well as an analysis of potentially preemptive state laws.