SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 17, 2025—The state’s leading small business association today announced its top lobbying priorities for 2026, just ahead of the California State Legislature’s return to business on January 5.

“We will certainly be lobbying for or against many more bills, but these six are our top priorities,” said John Kabateck, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in California. “We’ve already received some spoken bipartisan support for our number-one priority; we’ll see if that translates into real votes.”

1. Paying off the state’s $21 billion unemployment insurance debt to the federal government
California has the nationally embarrassing distinction of being the only state remaining that has not paid Uncle Sam back for the money it borrowed to keep its unemployment insurance (UI) trust fund solvent during the pandemic. Business owners are the only ones who pay UI taxes, and the interest clock is spinning. Complementary to this lobbying goal is fighting any attempt to extend UI benefits to those already with jobs, such as striking workers.

2. Reforming the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) along the lines of the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) reforms to cut down on frivolous, closure-threatening lawsuits
Like PAGA before it, the ADA has become a lucrative vehicle for fast-buck lawyers to use for shakedown lawsuits, mainly by opposing efforts to allow for a right-to-cure period for violations. NFIB will work with Sens. Roger Niello, Angelique Ashby, and Anna Caballero on their efforts to make Senate Bill 84 a vehicle for reform. Complementary to this will be NFIB’s fight against any legislation creating new rights to sue for the flimsiest of reasons, such as this year’s Senate Bill 222.

3. Fully funding Proposition 36 reforms to the state’s retail theft laws
The overwhelming support Proposition 36 received last election sent an unmistakable message to legislators that they were moving too slowly in addressing the retail theft pandemic gripping California. Now, they and Governor Newsom are moving too slowly in fully funding the voter-approved corrective. In an election year, NFIB will use The Power of the Small Business Voice, to lobby for giving the people what they voted for.

4. Protecting Proposition 13
Since its passage in 1978, the ruling political class in California has tried to eliminate or strip away the property tax protections in the law, either legislatively or by ballot initiative. Seventy-three percent of NFIB-member, small-business owners own the building or property where their businesses are located. NFIB will continue to oppose legislative efforts to chip away at Proposition 13 protections and support ballot initiatives that preserve and enhance it.

5. Stopping any further minimum wage increases
We will remind lawmakers that voter rejection of Proposition 32 just last year should put paid to any legislative attempts to now step in an increase the state’s minimum-wage rate. Californians are starting to recognize that allowing cities and counties to set a higher minimum-wage rate than the state’s has created a mess and that the minimum wage has always been, and will always be, an entry level wage for teenagers and young adults. Abundant research shows it does not lift anyone out of poverty or sustains a family just on it. Increasing the minimum wage has only one effect and that is to eliminate opportunities for people to get their first job on the way up the economic ladder of their life.

6. Preventing any more leave-time proposals from passing
California already offers 17 types of employee leave time, according to the Shouse California Law Group. Add to this, Senate Bill 590, signed into law this year, which expands eligibility for benefits under paid family leave to those with the “equivalent” of a family relationship. Assembly Bill 1136, which passed the Legislature but was vetoed by the governor, would have allowed for leave time for a multitude of reasons other than for health and recuperation. The leave mill never stops or slows in the Legislature. Finding workers to fill in for an employee out on leave is a costly challenge for small business owners in particular, especially in an era when they are having immense difficulty finding employees to fill their normal job openings. The state should not compound the problem by adding more leave time.