NCSL Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

Kentucky Backs Bipartisan Election Reform | Episode 8 Jul 30, 2023

Show notes

As the pandemic raged during 2020, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, and Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, were required by law to team up on the question of whether to postpone the election. They went much further, with bipartisan support from the Legislature, and instituted a long window for voting in a state that in modern times had only allowed voting on Election Day, with a few exceptions for absentee ballots. Voter turnout was high, and ballot security was unquestioned. That led the state to pass a bipartisan bill in 2021 making some of the expanded access permanent.

Following the Rules: Ethics and the Legislature | OAS Episode 191 Jul 16, 2023

Show notes

Every state has rules governing interactions among legislators, legislative staff and lobbyists, whether those lobbyists represent business interests, nonprofit groups and others. The rules have evolved over the past few decades and are often being updated.

On this episode, three experts on lobbying and compliance with ethics rules sat down to discuss how ethics rules have evolved and how attitudes about ethics rules have changed. Our guests are Doug Himes, the House ethics counsel in Tennessee; Mark Quiner, director of NCSL’s Center for Ethics in Government; and Elizabeth Bartz, the CEO and president of State and Federal Communications.

Resources

Code of Ethics, National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics
House Ethics Committee, Tennessee General Assembly
State and Federal Communications

Keeping Up With Redistricting | OAS Episode 190 Jul 09, 2023

Show notes

Redistricting of state and congressional legislative districts happens every decade following the census. But once those maps are drawn and implemented, there are still ongoing court cases and state legislation that affect redistricting. Just in recent weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on two significant redistricting cases.

For this podcast, the guest is Ben Williams from NCSL, an expert on redistricting who discussed some of the interesting developments around the topic, including efforts in some states to reallocate inmate data.

He talked about the recent legal developments and also about the efforts in 13 states to reallocate inmate data, for purposes of redistricting, from where people are incarcerated to where they lived before going to prison. Williams explained the pro and con arguments for such legislation. He also talked about what you can expect in the next several years around redistricting before the next census, and what attendees at the NCSL Legislative Summit in Indianapolis in August can expect from NCSL’s Elections and redistricting team.

This is a fast-moving policy area and just since this recording was finished, two more states have approved policies. As of today 15 states have adopted the policy—13 for the 2020 cycle and two more, Illinois and Maine, for the 2030 cycle.

Resources

Darcy Luoma on Coaching, Facing Trauma and Resilience | OAS Episode 189 Jul 02, 2023

Show notes

Darcy Luoma, a coach and consultant, will speak at the Legislative Staff Breakfast at NCSL’s Legislative Summit in Indianapolis in August. Before founding her consulting business, Luoma had extensive experience working on Capitol Hill, working on two presidential campaigns and as a senior adviser to a governor. She has also worked with state legislators and staff.

Luoma discussed her Thoughtfully Fit approach and how it can help legislative staff and the rest of us cope with stress. She also shared that her Summit presentation will focus on how to develop flexibility that allows you to work well with people who are different from you.

She also talked about resilience in the face of trauma and tragedy in her own life that helped her hone these coping skills.

Resources

Arizona Finds Common Ground on Water | ATA Episode 7 Jun 25, 2023

Show notes

ATA Episode 7 SUMMARY The Colorado River is a key source of water in Arizona, and it’s dwindling in the face of a mega-drought now in its second decade. Arizona lawmakers are working across the aisle to find new water supplies for the arid state, where some farming areas get only three inches of rain a year.

The Growing Nursing Shortage | OAS Episode 188 Jun 18, 2023

Show notes

Even before the pandemic, there was a growing shortage of registered nurses in the majority of states. From 2020 to 2021, during the height of the pandemic, more than 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce, the largest exodus in at least 40 years. Adding to the problem, in 2019, nursing schools turned away about 80,000 qualified applicants because of too few faculty, clinical sites and preceptors, and the problem persists.

Our first guest is Dr. Cynthia McCurren, a dean and professor at the School of Nursing of the University of Michigan in Flint. McCurren, who also serves as the board chair of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, discussed the role of nurses in the health care system, a variety of initiatives aimed at increasing the number of qualified faculty, and state and federal efforts to help address the problem.

Our other guest is Sarah Jaromin from NCSL, who drilled down into a variety of state efforts aimed at increasing the supply of nursing faculty and also where legislators can learn more about different approaches being tried around the country.

Resources

AI and the Legislative World | LTIS Episode 21 Jun 11, 2023

Show notes

On this episode, host Tim Storey dives into the world of artificial intelligence with Alex Wirth, the co-founder and CEO of Quorum, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs tech platform that organizations use to manage engagement, launch advocacy campaigns and keep track of legislation and policy trends in Washington, all 50 states, thousands of cities and even in Brussels.

Storey talked with Wirth about how the platform evolved and how his tech team has increasing used artificial intelligence tools to perform sophisticated analysis. Wirth broke down how he thought AI would affect state government, legislatures and individual legislators. He also offered some advice on managing the use of AI in legislatures, and explained why legislative offices may soon need AI tools to handle all the AI-generated communications they will be receiving.

Resources

Quorum

New Options for Retirement Savings | OAS Episode 187 Jun 04, 2023

Show notes

As many as 56 million private sector workers in the U.S. lack access to a retirement savings plan through their jobs. The subsequent lack of retirement savings could cost federal and state governments hundreds of billions of dollars by 2040.

Joining the podcast is John Scott, the director of the Retirement Savings Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Scott explained the scope of the retirement savings problem, the difference between public and private employers, and the most promising approaches to help more people save for retirement.

Also on the show are two lawmakers involved in sponsoring legislation for state-facilitated savings plans. Senator Dallas Harris, a Democrat from Nevada, and Representative Michael O'Donnell, a Republican from Missouri, talked about the legislation they've introduced, how they've worked with employers in their states and the key challenges they faced in passing their legislation.

Resources

Retirement Policy Project, Pew Charitable Trusts

Exploring Policy Solutions to Mental Health Treatment | OAS Episode 186 May 31, 2023

Show notes

Millions of Americans experience mental health problems and frequently experience challenges finding treatment, including in the workplace.

That’s the context for national task force— Mental Health Matters: National Task Force on Workforce Mental Health Policy—funded by the U.S. Department of Labor working with NCSL and the Council of State Governments (CSG).

The guests on this podcast are Colorado Lt Gov Dianne Primavera (D) and Tennessee Sen. Becky Massey (R). The two are at-large co-chairs of the task force, which also includes 27 other state lawmakers from both parties.

The two spoke about what they’d learned in the course of the task force’s work, and about the goals, which include developing improved benefit and employment; access to mental health resources in the workplace; addressing underserved communities; and the shortage of mental health care workers.

The task force plans to issue the policy framework this summer that can serve as a resource for policymakers across the country.

Resources

"Mental Health in the Workplace Toolkit," NCSL

Parties Join Forces to Free Alabama Constitution of Racist Wording | ATA Episode 6 May 28, 2023

Show notes

Until recently Alabama's constitution still had racist language from the original document written in 1901, led by an avowed white supremacist. Though the provisions weren't operable today, plenty of people have wanted them gone for years. But it wasn't easy to revise a constitution that is the longest such document in the world, one that has nearly 1,000 amendments. Still, the state legislature reached unanimous agreement, and 75 percent of voters supported the revisions last November after a long and complicated process.

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