Transcript Highlights:

• He said that inflation has stopped.
• <00:02:19.360> Today, inflating their stock bubble. Today, inflating their stock bubble.
• <00:10:22.560> to funding cuts, from inflation to funding cuts, from inflation to deportation
• <00:42:11.200> and significantly faster than inflation and significantly faster than inflation
• the threats thereof and rising inflation the threats thereof and rising inflation are<01:41:44.560

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• As you can imagine, with inflation, everything costs $500 now, and... inflation, everything costs $500
• that will lead to us needing more auditors and more funding if we do not tie that to the rate of inflation
• So once every four years, I'll look up the inflation rate, and we will raise that threshold just to keep
• it in line with inflation.
• So those... keep it in line with inflation. So those are the major highlights in the bill.

Bills: SB163, SB173, SB155, HB93, SB163, SB173, SB155, HB93

Keywords: State Auditor, property investigations, negligence, loss report, civil actions, Alabama Retirement Savings Program, state-facilitated retirement savings, auto-IRA, automatic enrollment, payroll deduction IRA, retirement savings access gap, private sector workers, small business retirement plan, portable retirement account, Roth IRA, traditional IRA, life-cycle fund, capital preservation fund, financial literacy, Department of Workforce

Transcript Highlights:

• Keeping pace with inflation is essential to continue park operations, forest management, conservation
• <00:07:48.639> continue<00:07:49.199> park inflation is essential to continue park
• The current appropriation, with the last two years of enhanced benefits and inflation, and without an
• <00:14:53.760> and enhanced benefits and inflation and enhanced benefits and inflation and
• We do know that there's inflation out there, and I think Chair Heintzeman agrees with me on this.

Bills: HF2439

Keywords: environmental protection, pollution reduction, waste management, climate change, funding allocations, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• several years, property tax burdens have increased at a time when Floridians are struggling with inflation
• Representative Nixon: This is suffering record-breaking inflation, but my next question is what guarantees
• That is way outpacing inflation and population growth in the community.
• Market values have risen much more quickly than inflation.
• The formula is faulty and the Ana: empirical data is focused on inflation alone, ignoring the larger

Transcript Highlights:

• We address the sort of difference in approach we saw to targets as it pertains to inflation.
• The February forecast presumed that we would spend $1.145 billion on discretionary inflation.
• Why you guys want to hold the inflation.
• 00:04:28.400> discretionary 1.145 billion on discretionary 1.145 billion on discretionary inflation
• In the House, we chose not to inflation. In the House, we chose not to spend<00:04:32.320> that.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• this modification would exempt the lobby compensation thresholds in Government Code 305.005 from inflation
• Currently, the lobby compensation thresholds increase each year based on inflation, shifting more data
• Compensation thresholds increase each year based on inflation, shifting more data into the lowest threshold
• This modification would ensure that the inflation adjustments would be Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
• This modification would ensure that the inflation adjustments would be rounded, either to the 10, 100

Summary: The Sunset Advisory Commission met for its final meeting of the biennium, established a quorum, approved the December 11, 2024 minutes, and then voted on recommendations for several agencies reviewed earlier in the cycle. It adopted all recommendations for the Angelina and Nettus River Authority, the Lower Nettus Valley Authority, and the Trinity River Authority of Texas, with no modifications offered for those agencies. The Commission then considered the Texas Ethics Commission. Members adopted staff recommendations with modifications, including changes to lobby compensation thresholds and rounding of inflation adjustments. The Commission also adopted a series of new recommendations addressing TEC customer service staffing, late-filing penalties, post-election reporting penalties, waiver of penalties when notice cannot be shown, review of the “substantial compliance” standard, review of the “principal purpose” definition, more prominent public posting of delinquent penalties, and clearer training and guidance on filing and lobby-registration requirements. The Commission also adopted two previously omitted Texas Department of Criminal Justice recommendations, 6.5 and 6.6. By recorded vote, the Commission unanimously forwarded all recommendations adopted during the biennium to the 89th Legislature, with nine ayes. Sunset staff then reported on implementation of 2023 Sunset recommendations, saying the State Auditor found 89% of selected management actions fully implemented and Sunset staff found 68% of statutory and related changes fully implemented, with the remainder mostly in progress. The Commission also noted receipt of a January 6 evaluation of the Texas Lottery Commission, including a study of potential regulation of lottery ticket courier companies, but no further action was taken on that item. The meeting concluded with closing remarks and a motion to recess subject to the call of the Chair.

Transcript Highlights:

• Is that because of inflation? What's the rationale behind the increase? Thank you, Senator.
• I know there's times are tight and inflation is creeping up on budgets.
• , but this isn't inflation; it's a percentage.
• on that unclaimed property today, it's evaluated in real time and it's going to reflect today's inflated
• But this is not an inflationary measure simply because inflation is reflected in the 2003 numbers.

Bills: HB3044, HB3465, HB3625, HB3704, HB3759, HB3920, HB3972, HB4191, HB4311, HB4426

Keywords: veterans, tax refund, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, capital improvement, donations, Oklahoma Emission Reduction, incentive, taxation, environment, revenue, investment, school funds, treasurer, education funding, financial policy, income tax, scholarship, tax credit, Oklahoma Tax Commission, school funding

Transcript Highlights:

• I mean, this only comes into play when the inflation is over... ...only comes into play when the inflation
• is to help with things like salaries, to hopefully keep some of their folks, you know, closer to inflation
• Yet I do ask you this. ...inflation, maybe that's part of it. Certainly. Yet I do ask you this.
• So they're already being capped to a certain extent under inflation every other year?
• And I get that, you know, when inflation is high, not everyone is going to be able to stay up with that

Keywords: 959, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So all of these numbers are adjusted for inflation.
• So for every single year between 2026 and 2029, per capita inflation-adjusted spending is still going
• Again, these numbers are adjusted for inflation, so everything is in 2022.
• X could either be the growth rate of the population plus the growth rate of inflation.
• <01:45:18.119> and which will uh increase inflation and which will uh increase inflation and

Keywords: 1183, house

Summary: The Ways and Means Committee began with member and staff introductions, including several new members and committee staff. Representative Zach Stevenson, the DFL lead, objected to the day’s presentation, saying he was disappointed the committee was starting with a group he viewed as aligned with Republicans rather than a nonpartisan budget presentation. The chair responded that the committee had a bipartisan agreement and that hearing a different perspective was appropriate. The committee then proceeded to a presentation from economists with the Center of the American Experiment, with questions held until the end. The presentation focused on Minnesota’s budget outlook, arguing that the state faces a structural imbalance and a projected $5.14 billion deficit in the 2028-29 biennium. The presenters said spending has outpaced revenues, highlighted a large increase in general fund spending since 2023, and argued that inflation-adjusted per-capita spending remains above pre-2024 levels through the forecast period. They said the biggest growth areas are E-12 education and especially Health and Human Services, with HHS projected to become the largest budget category and much of its growth tied to Medicaid and long-term care waivers. The presenters also argued Minnesota spends more than most states on welfare and Medicaid, citing comparisons showing the state near the top nationally in spending per person in poverty and in several Medicaid categories. They said some of the HHS growth reflects policy changes from the 2023 session, while other pressures come from enrollment growth, health care prices, federal debt, and an aging population. No votes or formal committee actions were taken during the portion of the meeting shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• recent inflation recent inflation uh uh uh with<00:34:01.679> the<00:34:02.040> the
• Don't say it's about inflation if it's not about inflation. All right. Okay.
• It'd be 200 and 200 and 200 would be 600, plus inflation. I don't know.
• Don't say it's about inflation if it's not about inflation. All right. Okay.
• Don't say it's about inflation. Don't say it's about inflation if it's not about inflation.

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We have a problem with the inflation-capped GRC. Now, it's not a true cap, right?
• You're saying, hey, you're going to present an inflation-cap scenario while you also present your other
• But realistically, the key cost drivers don't observe inflation: wildfire hardening, transmission...
• But realistically, the key cost drivers don't observe inflation: wildfire hardening, transmission expansion
• So a presumption that rate increases track inflation could lead to underfunded maintenance, delayed upgrades

Summary: The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources heard Senator Becker present a broad energy and affordability bill focused on shifting certain utility-related costs out of rates and into a new public power fund structure. The bill’s major elements included using cap-and-trade climate credit revenues to provide larger and better-timed customer credits, especially for low-income customers; creating a fund to help cover wildfire mitigation, care and fairness, and other public-purpose costs; adjusting rate-setting and wildfire spending oversight; and streamlining permitting and CEQA review through programmatic environmental documents for similar projects. Becker said the goal was to reduce regressive costs in rates while still supporting climate and infrastructure goals. Support came from municipal utilities, community choice advocates, environmental justice and clean energy groups, and the Climate Center, many of whom said they supported the bill and wanted to continue working on amendments. Opposition came from the California Chamber of Commerce, utility companies, business groups, and labor representatives, who argued the bill would shift rather than solve cost pressures, create rate instability, and introduce reliability and investor risks. Several opponents also criticized the proposed funding structure and the inflation-capped rate-setting approach. Committee members asked Becker about the rationale for the power fund, the change from 85% to 100% of cap-and-trade revenues going to customer credits, the reduced frequency of wildfire mitigation reporting, and the adequacy of streamlined environmental review. Becker said the bill was intended to move wildfire and other public-purpose costs out of rates over time and to speed up review without eliminating project-specific environmental analysis. The committee ultimately voted to pass the bill on a due-pass recommendation, with members noting ongoing discussions on permitting and other amendments.

Transcript Highlights:

• One is, I suspect, inflation. I'll talk more about that.
• As I said, I think the key factors here, one is inflation.
• You know, first principles, you should think of revenue growth as economic growth plus inflation.
• So even if you have zero economic growth, we've got two-and-a-half to three percent inflation.
• What's the inflation number? You should be seeing four- to five-percent kind of numbers.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The Senate and House Ways and Means chairs opened the FY 2027 consensus revenue hearing by emphasizing the need for a balanced, fiscally responsible budget amid federal funding cuts, health care cost pressures, and uncertainty around the federal tax law changes referred to as OB3. They also noted the state’s current revenue performance is slightly above benchmark and paid tribute to the late Representative Anne Margaret Ferranti. Secretary of Administration and Finance Matthew Gorkowitz echoed the call for caution, saying Massachusetts has protected core services while building reserves and that the FY27 budget process begins with a careful revenue estimate. Department of Revenue Commissioner Jeff Snyder, along with DOR staff, presented FY26 and FY27 tax forecasts and identified major drivers and risks: OB3’s negative impact on state revenue, surtax collections, labor market conditions, capital gains, and corporate/business excise taxes. DOR estimated OB3 would reduce FY26 revenue by about $664 million and FY27 by about $282 million, while surtax and capital gains were expected to remain strong in FY26 but soften in FY27. Members questioned the outlook for surtax, capital gains, and the potential fiscal effect of a ballot question reducing the income tax rate from 5% to 4%; DOR said that proposal could cost roughly $4.2 billion to $4.8 billion annually, with a smaller but still significant impact in FY27 because of phase-in timing. Treasurer Deb Goldberg testified next on the stabilization fund, lottery, PRIM, unclaimed property, and the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. She reported the rainy day fund at about $8.1 billion, said the lottery was on track for $1.5 billion in FY26 net profit and projected $1.25 billion in FY27, and highlighted that iLottery is expected to launch in summer 2026 with revenue beginning in FY27 and dedicated to child care initiatives. She also described strong PRIM performance and record unclaimed property returns, while members asked about the child care use of iLottery revenue, multilingual outreach, and the economic impact of expanded liquor licensing. Mass Taxpayers Foundation President Doug Howgate and Tufts’ Evan Horowitz then offered differing revenue outlooks and policy warnings. Howgate projected modest growth, cautioned against overusing reserves for ongoing obligations, and urged caution on federal tax conformity changes and health care spending pressures. Horowitz projected higher FY26 and FY27 revenues than other witnesses, warned that the surtax and capital gains make the tax system more volatile, and said a 4% income tax ballot question could reduce FY27 revenues by roughly $800 million to $1 billion. He also flagged the rent control ballot question as a potential risk to municipal finance and suggested the state consider giving a permanent home to the independent revenue model used by Alan Clayton-Matthews.

Transcript Highlights:

• Medicaid, agriculture, which includes SNAP, Inflation Reduction Act, repeals and rescissions, energy
• For the Inflation Reduction Act Repeals and Rescissions, it repeals the green house gas reduction fund
• It reverses onshore and offshore oil and gas royalty rates to pre-Inflation Reduction Act levels and
• Permanently increases the child tax credit to $2,200 beginning in 2026 and indexed for inflation.
• So all of the programs under the Inflation Reduction Act that are being rescinded.

Keywords: 988, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• These are nominal rates, meaning they are not adjusted for inflation.
• These are nominal rates, meaning they are not adjusted for inflation.
• Here, this slide shows the California excise tax adjusted for inflation since 1923.
• For instance, when adjusted for inflation, even the 1927 excise tax of 3 cents would be about 57 cents
• This slide here basically shows the same revenue data but adjusted for inflation.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications held an oversight hearing on managing the transportation fuels transition, with a focus on gasoline prices, supply reliability, refinery closures, and the implementation of recent transparency and market oversight laws. Chair Allen opened by citing SB 1322 and special session measures that expanded reporting to the California Energy Commission (CEC), authorized possible refining margin caps, and required minimum inventory and resupply planning. He framed the hearing around rising fuel costs, refinery shutdowns, global supply disruptions, and the need to ensure affordable and reliable fuel during the transition to cleaner transportation. CEC Vice Chair Siva Gunda described California’s growing dependence on imports as in-state refining declines, noting that gasoline production has fallen and imports now supply a large share of the market. He said the state has substantial marine import capacity and that the proposed Gateway Pipeline could improve connectivity to the Gulf Coast, but emphasized that distribution and storage remain key constraints. Gunda also said the CEC’s new “days of supply” metric suggests inventories remain within historical ranges, and he attributed recent price increases largely to global crude oil shocks, refinery outages, and the war in Iran. He said taxes and environmental costs have remained relatively stable, while crude costs and industry margins have risen. CDTFA Chief Deputy Director Gentian Droboniku focused on retail pricing, saying widening retail margins and growing price dispersion indicate that retail business models and pricing strategies are increasingly driving pump prices. He highlighted the growth of hypermarts and unbranded stations, the widening gap between branded and unbranded prices, and future work on ownership concentration and algorithmic pricing. Ty Milder of the Department of Petroleum Market Oversight said the Iran conflict is the largest global oil supply disruption in history and that California’s recent price increases largely track national and crude price movements, unlike earlier localized spikes that lacked input-cost justification. He said branded stations, especially major brands, have charged substantially more than nearby competitors, and that the “mystery gasoline surcharge” that appeared after the Torrance refinery fire is still under investigation. Milder also pointed to high diesel spreads, limited market liquidity, and the need for more transparency in spot pricing. Matthew Boutill of CARB said the state’s long-term goals remain deep greenhouse gas reductions and carbon neutrality by 2045, with transportation fuel transition strategies aimed at cleaner fuels, zero-emission vehicles, and support for workers and communities. In questioning, Senators Caballero and Richardson pressed agency witnesses for clearer, more concrete explanations of what the transition will look like in practice, how many refineries California will still need, and what the impacts of increased imports will be on ports, trucking, storage, and local communities. No votes or formal actions were taken.

Transcript Highlights:

• No matter the business, the challenges are consistent—from managing inflation and capital to hiring a
• That's exactly what the America First agenda does: by ending inflation, cutting taxes, unleashing American
• many Americans were waiting for, relief against excessive government spending that has directed inflation
• Businesses secure and ensuring wasteful taxpayer spending is not driving up inflation.
• Inflation is the number one problem, not only facing families, but small businesses.

Transcript Highlights:

• This price is wildly inflated.
• This price is wildly inflated.
• This price is wildly inflated.
• This price is wildly inflated.
• This price is wildly inflated.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Summary: The Senate Education Policy Committee met under a co-chair arrangement and heard opening remarks emphasizing civility, direct testimony from school leaders, and a focus on whether state policy is meeting student needs in the least intrusive and most cost-effective way. Chair Coleman asked testifiers to keep remarks brief and policy-focused, and the committee began with a series of superintendents describing local budget pressures and the cumulative impact of state mandates. Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent Corey McIntyre said the district, the state’s largest, is serving about 37,000 students and faces a roughly $26 million deficit even after major reductions, including cutting about $44 million and roughly 250 central office jobs. He cited rising costs tied to compensation, special education and multilingual cross-subsidies, unemployment, paid leave, READ Act implementation, student/staff safety and K-3 discipline requirements, and transportation, saying the district still faces about $50 million in mandate-related shortfalls and may need to reduce class size and student supports. Senator Kunesh responded that summer unemployment claims are paid from a separate state budget line, not the district general fund, and asked about paid leave costs; McIntyre and the chair clarified the district’s concern was the possibility of future costs if state funding ends. Prior Lake-Savage Superintendent Michael Thomas said district revenues are rising only about 2.5% to 3% while expenses are growing 5% or more, driven by inflation and vendor costs. He argued that the state’s inflationary funding tie should be maintained, and asked for an increase in local optional aid of $250 per pupil and more flexibility for districts that struggle to pass local levies. Minnetonka Superintendent David Law argued that schools are being asked to absorb broader community burdens, including food and mental health needs, while still being judged on academics and graduation; he said REACT funding fell short, forcing the district to shift reading funds to staff development, and urged the committee not to roll mandates forward without funding. Fergus Falls Superintendent Jeff Drake said expanded unemployment, earned sick and safe time, and paid family leave are creating staffing and budget challenges for rural districts, estimating unemployment costs could reach $240,000 annually and sick and safe time about $25,000, with added difficulty recruiting support staff and substitutes. No committee votes or formal actions were taken in the portion provided.

Transcript Highlights:

• ramp from the current 118% of the fiscal year 25 average per pupil expense, expense, adjusted for inflation
• circuit breaker tax credit and provides low-income renters with a larger credit during this time of inflation
• Average education spending adjusted for inflation, which is NIPA— which is the National Income and Product
• So, that 2025 is inflated to what our current year is. The current year is.
• We originally proposed to the Senate to use the NEPA as an inflator, which would have been a lower inflator

Keywords: 926, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It has not been enough to keep up with the rising costs of inflation over the past five years.
• I think everybody knows this: nothing is keeping up with inflation.
• But if you were a retiree that retired in 2004, making $5,000 a year, if you kept up with inflation,
• that we are currently given, if you can see, is about $6,500, so almost $2,000 less than what's in inflation
• And inflation a couple years ago was, what, five, six percent.

Keywords: 996, all

Transcript Highlights:

• the session with a structural imbalance in the planning years, in the tails, as we say, without inflation
• the session with a structural imbalance in the planning years, in the tails, as we say, without inflation
• the session with a structural imbalance in the planning years, in the tails, as we say, without inflation
• the session with a structural imbalance in the planning years, in the tails, as we say, without inflation
• say without inflation $2.4 billion. say without inflation $2.4 billion.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• It also includes a provision to adjust for inflation every 10 years.
• also removes language that would have allowed the division to increase the grant amount based on inflation
• There are now about a hundred thousand folks who haven't seen an increase, and you know what inflation
• Capital appreciation, which is certainly above the rate of inflation.
• If you're at 4 or 5 percent, you're losing out to inflation.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all