To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Over the last decade, observers have noted that states have begun to play a greater role as regulatory enforcers — a trend that increased with the federal regulatory rollback that began with the advent of the Trump administration. Within the last couple of years, localities, including counties, cities and towns, have joined the states in flexing their muscles as key players in areas of regulatory enforcement traditionally dominated by the federal government. By enacting their own statutory protections, performing their own investigations independent of their federal counterparts, or pursuing overlapping litigation against potential violators, states — and now localities — are becoming an increasingly important source of regulatory authority.