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Comments on Oregon’s proposed psilocybin services rules
Overall, the process appears to have generated a prudent set of rules that would create a program that balances client safety with strong licensee oversight under a flexible set of program rules.
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Testimony: The negative impacts of Columbus’ proposed ban on flavored tobacco
Flavor bans at the local level have little effect on public health and potentially disastrous consequences for communities of color.
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Testimony: FDA regulation has preserved and protected the most dangerous form of nicotine use—smoking combustible cigarettes
Testimony before an expert panel convened as part of the Reagan-Udall Foundation's operational evaluation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products.
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Public Comment: Menthol prohibition would come with negative consequences
Prohibition will result in increased tobacco smuggling and more frequent interactions between law enforcement and minority communities.
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Testimony: Teacher Retirement System of Texas can improve funding policies to benefit taxpayers, employees
The pension plan's outdated actuarial assumptions, funding policies, and benefit offerings hurt teachers' retirement security.
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Testimony: Louisiana Senate Bill 438 could cause public pension woes
This current proposal includes changes that would likely prevent the state and taxpayers from seeing any meaningful cost reduction or financial risk reduction.
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Oregon Psilocybin Services should carefully approach Measure 109 rulemaking
Our review of the proposed rules on psilocybin products, training curriculum, and testing yielded the following observations.
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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.
