FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Kabateck, California State Director, john@kabstrat.com
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 3, 2026—California’s largest and leading small business association today released the results of a poll of its members that will aid in centering its lobbying strategy in the 2026 session of the California Legislature.

The majority of responding NFIB members made it abundantly clear that they want policymakers to protect them from property and payroll tax hikes, frivolous shakedown lawsuits, and bureaucratic hurdles blocking development and jobs in our communities.

“The results from this year’s poll aren’t surprising, but they are useful for gauging the temperature of Main Street entrepreneurs, and that temperature can be described as emphatic,” said John Kabateck, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in California.

“We can now lobby emphatically for the passage of Senate Bill 84, which would allow for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to be corrected within 120 days before a lawsuit could commence, as well as lobby emphatically lobby against such proposals as Assembly Bill 1553, which attempt to chip away at the hard-won California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reforms of last year.”

Kabateck also said the poll provided the NFIB CA PAC with another green light to do everything in its power to beat back any and all attempts to diminish Prop. 13 property protection at the ballot box.

The four questions asked of small-business-owning members of NFIB were:

Should California pay off its Unemployment Insurance (UI) debt to the federal government?

Yes 81%

No 8%

Und. 11%

Should California small businesses be allowed to correct Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) violations before being sued by plaintiffs’ attorneys?

Yes 96%

No 2%

Und. 2%

Should California further reform the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to make it easier to rebuild residential properties, particularly in communities recovering from natural disasters?

Yes 92%

No 3%

Und. 5%

Should California maintain Proposition 13 protections that limit property tax increases by local governments?

Yes 97%

No 2%

Und. 1%

Keep up with the latest California small business news at www.nfib.com. Follow us on X @NFIB_CA and on Facebook @NFIB.CA.

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

NFIB California
915 L St. Ste C-411
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-448-9904
NFIB.com
X: @NFIB_CA
Facebook: @NFIB.CA