Looking Toward 2026: What 2025 State Sessions and Elections Tell Us About the Year Ahead
As the Trump administration ramped up federal attacks on gender justice in 2025, people across the country refused to back down. Voters, advocates, state legislators, attorneys general, and more showed up in their communities on the state and local level. They made a real difference for their neighbors by defending people’s rights in state capitols, attending protests, participating in mutual aid efforts, and attending state and local government meetings. In 2026, resistance at the state and local level will be more important than ever.
That’s why we analyzed the trends from the 2025 elections and state legislative sessions to give us insight on what to expect for the 2026 state sessions launching this month. Here’s what’s on our radar:
Bolstering state budgets after the “Big Ugly Bill”
Across the country, states have been left with the huge task of trying to fill the gaps left when the federal “Big Ugly Bill” (aka One Big Beautiful Bill Act or OBBBA) slashed federal programs that women, children, and families rely on, like SNAP and Medicaid. At the ballot box in 2025, voters in states and localities from Ohio to Washington voted for revenue raising measures to send a clear, courageous message that their states must show up to make sure all women and families have the chance to thrive. Colorado voters approved a ballot proposition to increase taxes on the wealthy to fund free school meals for all public school students and fund new state costs for administering SNAP following the horrific federal funding cuts.
A major focus in 2026 state legislative sessions will be shifting state funds and passing policies to raise state revenue to counter federal cuts to programs, as well as unlinking state tax codes from federal provisions to prevent additional revenue loss.
Flexing and expanding state anti-discrimination protections
Attacks on trans people and diversity, equity, and inclusion were rampant in 2025, with the Trump administration threatening to withhold funding or punish states that refused to discriminate. But state attorneys general did not back down. Month after month, coalitions of attorneys general showed up together, affirming that trans health care is protected in their states and that anti-discrimination and inclusive workplace policies were not just legal, they are the law and must be followed.
Oregon is one state leading the way on anti-discrimination efforts. The state’s attorney general is leading a lawsuit challenging attacks on gender-affirming care and its legislature increased funding for positions in the state’s civil rights division to investigate claims of discrimination. This is especially important as the Trump administration has all but declared that it won’t investigate certain kinds of discrimination, like discrimination against trans people.
Trump has also effectively gutted the federal Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—two of the agencies previously tasked with investigating civil rights abuses. In 2026, we expect to see states filling the gaps like Oregon has by continuing to pass and implement their own strong state anti-discrimination laws for schools and workplaces.
Advancing bold policies to ensure reproductive and LGBTQI+ health and safety
Federal attacks on health care last year ranged from overt targeting of trans health care to more quiet chipping away at reproductive rights. But we saw legislators in states like Colorado and Massachusetts show up to support access to abortion and gender-affirming care by expanding their states’ shield laws, which increase privacy and legal protections for patients and doctors.
In 2025, voters elected leaders with a positive vision of equality for all people—not leaders who attack trans people—and showed that abortion rights and access remain a defining, winning policy issue. In 2026, we expect to see policymakers acting more boldly to shore up and advance inclusive policies like proactive funding and protections for emergency abortion care and shield laws to protect privacy for abortion and trans health care patients and providers. While we anticipate wide-ranging attacks to continue into 2026 state sessions, including efforts to expand denials of health care and the spread of misinformation on reproductive and trans health care, we also foresee state lawmakers and advocates looking to strategies like those used in Florida last session to defeat every anti-LGBTQ bill introduced.
Increasing affordability through investments in care and wages
People have been very focused the past year on the affordability crisis, electing policymakers who know that making life more affordable means making care more affordable. In May 2025, nearly 1,400 child care providers across the country walked out for a Day Without Child Care to make their impact and voices known. In Louisiana, advocates from a coalition of over 180 organizations showed up to the state Capitol to highlight the need for ongoing investments in child care and early education.
In 2026, in addition to greater investments in care, we’re watching out for lawmakers to address another key driver of the affordability crisis: the long-term suppression of workers’ pay. We expect to see continued success of policies like pay range transparency that help close gender and racial wage gaps and hope to see efforts to raise the minimum wage and enact paid leave policies to make life more affordable for women and families.
Check out our State Playbook for Gender Justice to learn more about the policies we are watching or email [email protected] to connect with our experts.
