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Testimony: Improving transit services in rural communities
Five recommendations for improving transit services to best serve rural populations, especially transit-dependent riders.
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Testimony: Rhode Island e-cigarette prohibition could create unintended consequences
on of flavored e-cigarettes risks driving vapers back to smoking, fueling illicit markets, and forcing the closure of Rhode Island vape shops.
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Testimony on Alaska House Bill 55 and Buck’s updated fiscal analysis
House Bill 55 is a weak pension design and lacks sufficient controls.
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Testimony: Louisiana Senate Bill 10 is likely to increase pension debt and weaken retirement system
SB10 is likely to shortchange members and weaken TRSL, which has $9.3 billion in unfunded liabilities.
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Testimony: Senate Bill 7 could weaken Louisiana State Police Retirement System
Skimming excess returns drastically alters the way a plan funds its benefits.
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Testimony: Louisiana Senate Bill 6 relies on a structurally flawed funding mechanism
The funding mechanism that SB6 would rely on is structurally flawed, financially questionable, and a national outlier in terms of providing inflation protection in a pension system.
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Testimony: Louisiana Senate Bill 5’s bonus payment unlikely to be a one-time cost
The funding mechanism used to pay for the bonus leverages the entire balance of the system’s experience account.
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Testimony: Assessing the proposed Kansas Thrift Savings Plan in Senate Bill 553
The proposed Thrift Savings retirement plan in Senate Bill 553 reflects a high-quality public sector retirement plan design that incorporates best practices from national experience.
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Colorado should rethink potential tobacco prohibitions
Such a ban, while well-intentioned, could come with unintended consequences.
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Testimony: Prohibition of Flavored Tobacco Could Increase Cigarette Use in Connecticut
Prohibition of flavored e-cigarettes, which are overwhelmingly the choice of adult vapers, risks fueling illicit markets, forcing the closure of Connecticut vape shops, and driving vapers back to smoking.
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Testimony: Tennessee school finance reform would address student needs
Tennessee's school finance reform would give policymakers a more reliable mechanism for targeting dollars to selected categories of student needs including low-income students and students with disabilities.
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Testimony: State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program was not a good use of taxpayer money
The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program was excessive and poorly targeted.
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Testimony: Hawaii should rethink vaping prohibitions
HB 1570, while well-intentioned, could result in significant negative public health impacts.
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Testimony: Proposed railroad industry regulations ignore future automation advancements
Proposed regulations could complicate the supply chain even further during a time of unprecedented shipping congestion.
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Testimony: Banning e-cigarettes in Hawaii could negitively impact public health
The prestigious Cochrane Review concluded e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies for helping smokers quit.
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Testimony: Florida House Bill 971 would allow more investment in alternative assets
Florida House Bill 917 would allow the State Board of Administration to expand investment in the alternative asset market.
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Testimony: Arizona should examine the negative impacts that additional nicotine and licensing regulation would bring
If Arizona wishes to continue to reduce the number of deaths from smoking each year, the power to regulate the legal sale of safer nicotine products should be reserved to the state legislature itself.
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Testimony: The Surface Transportation Board should be concerned by Amtrak expansion
Increasing Amtrak train density is anticipated to cause significant disruptions to freight rail operations.