Proposition 26 – Allow Tribes to Run Sports Betting on Their Land

California currently bans sports betting, and this is the first of two measures that would alter that. Prop 26, the narrower of the two measures, would allow and tax sports betting in person at Native American casinos and four horse tracks across the state. Since colonization and the theft of Native land that created modern California, resources for tribes have been limited and gambling has become a consistent source of revenue for the original stewards of California’s lands. Ten percent of the revenue raised for the state would go to programs to mitigate gambling addiction. However, the negative impacts of gambling harm poor and working-class people disproportionately, including addiction and financial impacts. What’s more, this measure doesn’t explicitly speak to the experience of workers at these facilities, and California’s labor movement has stayed neutral on the issue. If Proposition 26 and Proposition 27 both pass, it’s unclear which one would take precedence, and lawsuits would likely ensue.