NCSL Podcasts

Learn about the people, policies and politics of America’s state legislatures with NCSL’s three podcasts: “Our American States,” “Across the Aisle” and the special limited series “Building Democracy.”

Our American States

The U.S. population is aging. In a little more than a decade, people 65 and older will outnumber children. Those older adults face economic, social and other challenges including the need for an array of long-term services.

Policymakers in a number of states are considering comprehensive approaches to support older adults. A few states have created what are termed master plans for aging that outline how the state can take on challenges in housing, transportation, health care, and other sectors.

Th guests on this podcast are Holly Riley, the aging services coordination director for Texas Health and Human Services, and Jarett Hughes, a senior policy advisor on aging for the governor of Colorado.

My guests discuss how their states are planning for this aging population, how they’ve tried to get key groups to work together on the effort and some of the lessons learned over years of developing their state plans.

Resources

Legislatures: The Inside Storey

The guest for this episode of the podcast is Peter Groff, the former Senate president in Colorado, who also served in the Obama administration as head of the Faith Based Initiative Center for the U.S. Department of Education. He now works with the Education Trust in Washington, D.C., as a policy and political consultant.

Groff, who served first in the Colorado House and then the Senate, talked with NCSL Executive Director Tim Storey about a variety of topics around legislative leadership. They include how he navigated his role as the first Black person to lead a legislative chamber in Colorado, how to bridge divides with other legislators, and strategies to be an effective leader.

He also talked about the role model he had in his father, who spent 20 years in the Colorado Senate, and the historic nature of the day he was sworn in.