Sacramento Sabotages Prop 36 After Voters Spoke

Here’s how democracy dies in California: voters pass a measure overwhelmingly, and then Sacramento just… doesn’t fund it. That’s exactly what’s happening with Prop 36.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan isn’t staying quiet about it:

Archived tweet

Residents overwhelmingly passed Prop 36 — but you wouldn’t know it if you looked at our streets today. Rather than carry out the will of the voters, Sacramento has refused to fund the measure, effectively setting it up to fail. That’s not what the people voted for — and it’s not a decision lawmakers should get to make after the fact. When voters approve a measure, implementation isn’t optional. Budgets are a reflection of our values. And if we’re not willing to prioritize public safety, treatment, and accountability with real dollars, then we’re choosing dysfunction over results.

Mayor Matt Mahan @MattMahanSJ January 20, 2026

The point Mahan is making couldn’t be clearer: when voters approve a measure, implementation isn’t optional. But that’s exactly what Sacramento is treating it as—optional. By refusing to allocate the dollars needed to actually enforce Prop 36, state lawmakers are effectively vetoing a ballot measure after the fact. That’s not governance. That’s sabotage.

This is the same state that gave us Prop 47’s disaster, watched retail theft spiral out of control, and then acted surprised when voters demanded accountability. Now those same voters have spoken again—and Sacramento is telling them to pound sand.

Mahan nails the core issue: “Budgets are a reflection of our values.” If California’s leaders won’t prioritize public safety, treatment, and accountability with real dollars, they’re making a choice. They’re choosing dysfunction over results. They’re choosing ideology over the will of the people they serve.

This is exactly why the conversation around Matt Mahan for Governor in 2026 keeps gaining steam. SF Supervisor Matt Dorsey has already endorsed him, calling his “ambitious, solutions-oriented leadership” exactly what California and the Democratic Party need. When you have mayors willing to call out their own party’s failures this directly, it’s a sign the political winds are shifting.

Sacramento politicians thought they could quietly kill Prop 36 by starving it of funding. They were wrong. The people are watching. And they’re not going to forget which lawmakers decided their votes didn’t count.

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