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Committee adopts CPI‑calculation draft to avoid 2025 data distortion, moves bill forward
Summary
The committee introduced a bill to adjust the consumer price index calculation using a semiannual adjusted average for 2025 so the 2026 inflation base is not overstated; staff said the draft points to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report rather than hard‑coding a percentage.
Chief Sobetzky and JBC staff presented a draft to revise how the 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) is calculated in statute. Because the Bureau of Labor Statistics published an estimate based on 11 months of 2025 data, staff said an adjusted semiannual average would more closely approximate a 12‑month CPI and avoid an artificial distortion when the 2025 base is used to calculate 2026 inflation and TABOR or Amendment 23 limits.
Representative Taggart and others asked whether the bill should include a numeric CPI adjustment (for example, 2.4%). Chief Sobetzky and staff said the draft intentionally points to the BLS report rather than inserting a fixed value, to avoid creating a new methodology that would have to be maintained in many places in statute.
The committee moved to introduce the CPI calculation bill and it passed unanimously. Staff noted the drafting approach kept what could have been a lengthy bill to a few pages by referencing the BLS computation rather than rewriting multiple statutory sections.
