NCSL Podcasts

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Making Higher Education Accountable | OAS Episode 212 Jun 16, 2024

Show notes

Enrollment in higher education has been on the decline for a decade, and research indicates a growing skepticism about the value of higher education. In response, many state legislatures have enacted laws aimed at creating greater accountability in higher education.

To explore the issue, we sat down with Brian Bridges, the secretary of higher education in New Jersey, to discuss legislation passed in that state. A 2021 bill established new requirements for academic programs including sufficient academic quality, evidence of labor market demand, lack of duplication, and requirements for additional state resources. Another bill in 2022 created performance quality standards for career-oriented programs and required the higher education secretary to develop minimum standards for state programs.

Also on the program is Andrew Smalley, a higher education policy expert at NCSL, who discussed the trend in state legislation and what the statistics tell us about the value of higher education.

Resources

Postsecondary Bill Tracking Database, NCSL
“Nondegree Credential Framework,” NCSL

Melissa Furman on the Pandemic and the Workplace | OAS Episode 211 Jun 02, 2024

Show notes

Melissa Furman is a trainer, coach, and consultant to professionals and businesses who's worked with legislative staff. Furman was a college professor and Dean before founding her firm Career potential. Her expertise includes generational diversity, emotional intelligence and leadership.

She's the guest on the podcast, the second in a series focused on legislative staff, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it changed the workplace. She addressed the persistent problem of burnout in the workplace, how leadership was critical to success during the pandemic, and some lessons to take away from the emergency.

Resources

Career Potential

The Evolution of the ADA | OAS Episode 210 May 19, 2024

Show notes

The Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990, but who and what it covers has evolved over the decades. Behavioral health issues, long COVID or other conditions that substantially limit one or more major life activities can fall under the ADA.

Joining the podcast are Eve Hill, one of the nation’s top disability rights lawyers and the policy and legislative counsel for the U.S. Department of Labor’s State Exchange on Employment & Disability or SEED, and Nevada Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May, who has worked on numerous initiatives to aid those with disabilities. Both joined the podcast to discuss the current state of the ADA.

Hill explained how interpretation of the law has changed since the early ’90s when she started her law career, how it has been further altered by legislation and the substantial role state legislators can take in their states around the issue. Note that’s Hill’s personal observations do not represent those of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Brown-May explained how her background working with people with disabilities has informed her legislative efforts and her experience with fellow lawmakers who come to her for advice on how to address a disability-related issue in legislation.

Resources

Assemblywoman Tract Brown-May, Nevada Legislature
Eve Hill, Brown, Goldstein and Levy
State Exchange on Employment & Disability, U.S. Department of Labor

Lessons Learned: Legislative Staff and the Pandemic | OAS Episode 209 May 05, 2024

Show notes

This podcast kicks off Legislative Staff Week, an annual NCSL effort to focus on legislative staff. This episode is part of three-podcast services focused on legislative staff that will roll out over the next couple of months.

Our guests include Sabrina Lewellen, assistant secretary of the Arkansas Senate and the current NCSL staff chair; Anne Sappenfield, director of the Wisconsin Legislative Council; and Jay Hartz, director of the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. All three joined to talk about the long-term effects of the pandemic and how their institutions coped with the emergency.

They talked about how their institutions were affected, some of the innovations staff devised to cope with the emergency and some of the lasting changes resulting from the pandemic. There was even discussion of how a stack of table, a laptop and a camera helped ensure transparent government.

RESOURCES

Legislative Staff homepage, NCSL

New Career Paths for Young People | OAS Episode 208 Apr 21, 2024

Show notes

College enrollment among young people has been in a steady decline, according to research from Pew. Some indicators show young people increasingly turning toward apprenticeships and other work-based learning and credential programs that help them get a good job.

Indiana and Maryland have been leaders in the field and on this podcast, we sat down with two legislators intimately involved in the issue--Rep. Bob Behning (R-Ind.) and Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Md.)

Behning said participation in an NCSL study group helped inform legislation he has pursued to ensure more options for youth employment and to destigmatize technical education. Augustine explained the approach Maryland has taken to youth employment and the role of the Maryland Apprenticeship 2030 Commission in shaping future efforts.

Resources

Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, Maryland Public Schools
Nondegree Credential State Policy Framework, NCSL
Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship, State of Indiana
Strategies for Youth Employment, NCSL

Kentucky Momnibus Tackles High Maternal Death Rate | Episode 14 Apr 17, 2024

Show notes

Public health officials and lawmakers in Kentucky had been trying to address the complex issue of maternal mortality for years. Rep. Kimberly Moser had long been a neonatal and intensive care nurse, and knew the struggles around maternal health in the state. Lawmakers had taken steps in past sessions, but last year when the latest numbers came out, Moser decided it was time to bring the best minds together to finally improve the odds for Kentucky mothers and babies. The result of months of research and discussion yielded a range of solutions in a bill dubbed the “Momnibus.”

Checking in on State Budgets | OAS Episode 207 Apr 07, 2024

Show notes

It's budget season and in the 46 states that start the new fiscal year on July 1, people are hard at work getting their budgets ready. Those state operating budgets amount to more than a trillion dollars a year.

But what exactly does getting the budget ready entail? To discuss that, we sat down with Krista Lee Carsner, the executive director of the Fiscal Review Committee for the Tennessee General Assembly and the president of the National Association of Legislative Fiscal Offices.

She explained the importance of accurate revenue forecasts, how the budget hearing process works on both the executive and legislative sides of state government and how individual legislators can get a say in the budget process.

Our second guest on this podcast was Erica MacKellar, a fiscal policy expert with NCSL. She broke down the fiscal condition of the states, how they're coping in the post pandemic period and how revenue projections are very much on the mind of those crafting state budgets.

Resources

FY 2025 State Budget Status, NCSL
VIDEO: State Budgets and Taxes, NCSL

Tackling fees and Fines in the Court System | OAS Episode 206 Mar 31, 2024

Show notes

Cities, states, courts and district attorneys’ offices levy fines and fees on defendants at nearly every stage of the criminal justice system. Fines and fees are often used to finance essential functions of the court and as a deterrent for people from committing future offenses.

In recent years, critics have argued that fines and fees used to fund the judiciary create a perverse incentive for judges to impose more fees. Another target for critics are jurisdictions that use criminal justice fees as revenue generators. For those with few resources, fines and fees stemming from traffic tickets and criminal convictions can perpetuate a cycle of poverty.

A significant state legislative trend has been to limit the number and amount of fines and fees in the justice system or abolish them altogether.

Our two guests on this episode both sponsored successful legislation in their states to abolish fees and fines for juveniles. Rep. Sean Lynn, a Democrat from Delaware, and Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, a Republican from Montana, talked about why they got involved in this policy area and the changes they want to see in their states.

Resources

States, Feds Work Together to Prevent Overdoses | OAS Episode 205 Mar 17, 2024

Show notes

Overdose deaths from all drugs, including opioids, have risen to more than 110,000 in the 12-month period that ended last September. The vast majority of those deaths near 80% involved fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

State legislatures have been active in passing legislation to address the crisis and enacting more than 180 bills in 2022 and 2023, most of them focusing on harm reduction strategies such as medication-assisted treatment. However, the number of deaths remain stubbornly high.

On this podcast, we sat down with Michelle Putnam from the Division of Overdose Prevention at the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Charlie Severance-Medaris, who tracks state policy related to drug overdose prevention for NCSL.

Putnam discussed the steps her office is taking to understand the patterns of drug use and overdoses and working with local public health departments to better equip them to deal with the situation. She also talked about the frustration faced by state and local officials, families, law enforcement, and others at the ongoing death toll despite decades of efforts to control illegal drugs.

Severance-Medaris discussed the trends in legislation aimed at addressing the drug overdose problem and whether states may change their approach.

Resources

States Take Up Social Media Regulation | Episode 13 Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

State legislatures in blue and red states are taking up measures to protect children on social media, especially because Congress has been unable to agree on solutions and the evidence of harm to young users continues to mount. It's a complicated problem and most of the states' laws are being challenged in court by a trade association and other groups who believe they are unconstitutional.

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