Why It Matters

Publix Super Markets Inc., a food and beverage retailer, disclosed lobbying on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory issue and healthcare policy reforms, including budget reconciliation, in its third-quarter 2026 filing through outside firm Ballard Partners LLC. The EPA issued a final rule in May 2026 revising refrigerant requirements for grocery-store refrigeration, and H.R. 1 became Public Law 119-21 on July 4, 2025, meaning both disclosed issues had seen major federal action before the filing's October 18 signed date. ​

By the Numbers

Ballard Partners reported $120,000 for the third quarter of 2026. That figure is unchanged from the second quarter of 2026 and matches every Ballard Partners filing for Publix going back to the third quarter of 2025.

The third-quarter 2026 records show only the Ballard Partners filing; in the second quarter of 2026, Publix also filed through its in-house operation ($260,000) and through Brumidi Group ($50,000), bringing that quarter's total to $430,000. The same quarter a year earlier, the third quarter of 2025, shows a combined client total of $380,000 across Ballard Partners, the in-house operation, and Brumidi Group; no third-quarter 2026 filings from those two registrants appear in the records, so the $120,000 figure may not represent Publix's complete third-quarter spend.

The four lobbyists named on the filing are:

  • Dan McFaul, managing partner, with prior House staff service across the 106th through 115th Congresses
  • Patrick Kilcur, partner, with prior Senate staff service across the 109th through 113th Congresses
  • Brian Ballard, president
  • Justin Sayfie, partner

Broader Context

EPA announced a final rule on May 21, revising refrigerant requirements for grocery-store refrigeration; the agency said it expected the changes to lower food costs. The Food Industry Association (FMI), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), National Grocers Association (NGA), and National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) jointly supported EPA's proposed phased-in hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) limits in November 2025, saying the proposal would give retailers a workable transition while preserving environmental progress, but argued the prior 2023 rule underestimated costs, citing a Brattle Group report estimating a supermarket's transcritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) system would cost about $1.1 million more than a traditional HFC system.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued EPA over the May 2026 HFC rule on July 20, 2026, arguing extended deadlines prolong use of climate-warming refrigerants; NRDC said its lawsuit aligned with five industry groups, including Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC), and the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, that had filed similar challenges.

The filing names healthcare policy reforms and budget reconciliation under the health issues code but names no specific bill. Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL-9) posted on April 10 that he met with Publix representatives to discuss pharmacy operations and pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform. Pharmacy benefit managers administer prescription drug benefits on behalf of insurers and employers, including setting how much pharmacies are reimbursed for the drugs they dispense.

The Bottom Line

Ballard Partners' fee for Publix has held flat across five consecutive quarters, and the firm's lobbyist roster on this account contracted from six to four between the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, a configuration stable through the third quarter of 2026. With the EPA refrigerant rule finalized in May 2026 and H.R. 1 enacted in July 2025, both disclosed issues have cleared their most recent major milestones; no further scheduled congressional action on either is indicated in the available records.

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