NCSL Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

Bruce Mehlman on Politics, PowerPoints and the New Gilded Age | LTIS Episode 24 Oct 29, 2023

Show notes

On this episode, Tim Storey sat down with Bruce Mehlman, founder of Mehlman Consulting, a D.C-based bipartisan lobbying firm whose clients include Walmart, AARP, Boeing and the Mayo Clinic. Mehlman’s perspective is also shaped by his experience as an assistant secretary of Commerce in the George W. Bush administration and time in private industry.

Mehlman has a savvy, insider’s take on how Washington works and sees the day’s events with a historical perspective that is often missing from our political analysis.

Mehlman and Storey talked about the forces shaping our political world, the turn to populism in recent years in numerous countries the challenge that poses to our institutions. They also talked about Mehlman’s slide decks, that over the years have become well-known among policy types for their clear, data-driven, often humorous analysis of political, economic and social trends.

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Wolves Spark Urban vs Rural Divide in Colorado Episode 10 Oct 22, 2023

Show notes

Summary: Sometimes, the aisle lawmakers work across isn’t the one that separates the two parties. It’s the divide between rural and urban. That’s what happened in Colorado when urban voters narrowly passed a plan to reintroduce the endangered gray wolf. Lawmakers from both parties representing the rural part of the state—where ranchers and hunting outfitters feared livestock and business losses with wolves on the prowl—teamed up to minimize any economic impact.

Disease Forecasting, Nowcasting and Scenario Modeling | OAS Episode 196 Oct 15, 2023

Show notes

The ability to forecast how an infectious disease like COVID-19 will behave is a critical tool for public health officials.

On this podcast, we sat down with Dr. Roni Rosenfeld, a computer scientist and a leader in the field of disease forecasting. Rosenfeld leads the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and also works with Carnegie Mellon’s Delphi Research Group, which is one of several organizations that are part of the newly developed Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling Network established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rosenfeld explained that, over more than a decade, researchers working on disease forecasting have taken weather forecasting as their model in creating usable tools to better understand the path of infectious diseases. He explained the type of data disease forecasters use – everything from hospital records to Google searches—to develop their forecasts and how that information can help those in health care. He also discussed why it’s important for legislators and others in state government to understand how to use and interpret disease forecasting.

Resources

Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University

Cyberattacks and the Energy System | OAS Episode 195 Oct 01, 2023

Show notes

Safeguarding energy systems from cyberattacks in a growing concern in the U.S. The Colonial pipeline ransomware attack a few years ago and some other high-profile incidents caught the public’s attention. But as the guests on this podcast point out, energy systems are facing an increasing number of attacks.

On the podcast to discuss the situation are Lynn Constantini, a cybersecurity expert with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and Patrick Miller, CEO and owner of Ampere Industrial Security who brings more than 35 years of experience in the security field to the discussion.

While the federal government has some regulatory authority over utilities, state legislatures have a key role in this area through their oversight of public utility commissions. Since the start of 2021, states introduced nearly 500 bills and passed 99 measures related to energy security as of August 2022.

Constantini and Miller discussed the rise in threats and attacks, the type of attacks that are most common and the difference between attacks on information technology, or IT, and operational technology, or OT. They also discussed the steps states already have taken to counter cyberattacks.

Resources

2021-2022 Energy Security State Legislative Review: Cybersecurity and Physical Security, NCSL
Ampere Industrial Security
Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response, U.S. Department of Energy
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Cybersecurity Standards

ATA Swift Action on Ticketing | Episode 9 Sep 24, 2023

Show notes

Taylor Swift is making a big splash on stages this year, and also in state legislatures. That's because ticket sales devolved into online chaos, highlighting the problem of bots buying up tickets faster than humanly possible and putting them up for resale at exorbitant prices. The snafu became the catalyst for 24 states and Puerto Rico to consider 70 bills addressing ticket sales and fees. In this episode we look at how Texas came up with a bipartisan solution.

An Unblinking Focus on State News | LTIS Episode 23 Sep 10, 2023

Show notes

Reid Wilson is the founder and editor of Pluribus News, a 10-month-old news platform that focuses on the states and the policy trends that start there. On this episode, host Tim Storey sat down with Wilson to talk about how states are tackling some of their toughest issues: broadband, infrastructure projects, housing policy and artificial intelligence.

Wilson started out his career as an assistant to Chuck Todd on the National Journal’s Hotline and also worked for years at the Washington Post and The Hill before striking out on his own last year. He is an astute observer of state policy and politics as well as how the media covers those topics. In addition to state policy, Storey and Wilson also discussed the ongoing changes in the media coverage of legislatures.

Resources

Pluribus News

An Unlikely Pairing of Comedy and Policy | OAS Episode 194 Sep 03, 2023

Show notes

Improv comedy may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of public policy, but Tane Danger suggests maybe it should be. Danger is the keynote speaker at this year's professional development seminar for two legislative staff groups—the Research Editorial, Legal and Committee Staff (RELACS) and the Legislative Research Librarians (LRL). The meeting is Sept. 19-22 in Minneapolis and at the state Capitol in St. Paul.

Danger co-founded the Theater of Public Policy in Minnesota, which combines serious public policy discussion with improv comedy. On the podcast, he discussed how the skills you need for improv, such as careful listening, are also skills that can help in a legislative environment. He also laid out how his two-day presentation to the legislative staff groups will involve both a talk and a workshop.

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The Evolution of 911 | OAS Episode 193 Aug 20, 2023

Show notes

The 911 system was created in the U.S. more than 50 years ago to provide people with a single number to call in an emergency. Changes in technology have created enormous challenges for the system, which now receives more than 80% of its 240 million calls annually from cellphones and about 500,000 texts.

On this episode, we sat down with Brian Tegtmeyer, the National 911 Program Coordinator. The program is part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA.

Tegtmeyer discussed some of the challenges facing the system. Like so many sectors of government and private industry, the 911 system is facing workforce shortages, so much so that nearly half of all call centers face staffing shortfalls even as the number of emergency calls rise every year.

He also discussed the advantages of the Next Generation 911, the progress states have made in adopting to these new standards, funding to help with the transition and how legislators can find out more about the 911 system in their states.

Resources

Talking Politics With Lou Jacobson | LTIS Episode 22 Aug 13, 2023

Show notes

Host Tim Storey’s guest on this episode is Lou Jacobson, a senior correspondent with PolitiFact and a longtime reporter with extensive experience covering politics and policy at the state and federal level. Jacobson is among the most astute observers of our political process, especially in the states. He proudly notes that he has filed stories from 49 states and 43 state capitols.

Storey sat down with Jacobson to discuss the 2024 edition of “The Almanac of American Politics,” a 2,000-page plus tome that will answer every question you might have and some you haven’t thought of about the state of our politics.

They also talked about how rapidly the political scene has changed in the last 20 years and his assessment of the key Electoral College states in the 2024 election.

Resources

The Almanac of American Politics

Charitable Nonprofits Working With States | OAS Episode 192 Aug 06, 2023

Show notes

The charitable nonprofit sector of the economy is substantial, employing about 10% of the workforce and contributing about 6% of GDP.

To better understand how charitable nonprofits work with legislatures and the states, we sat down with David Thompson, vice president of public policy for the National Council of Nonprofits, the nation’s largest network of nonprofit organizations.

Thompson explained the role of charitable nonprofits in our communities and how state government and nonprofits work together to address any number of challenges, and specifically the value of community-based organizations when it comes to helping government implement programs.

He also noted a challenge that charitable nonprofits have in common with state government—a shortage of workers—and ways government and the nonprofit sector can advance policies to try to address those shortages.

Thompson also invited legislators around the country to join the National Nonprofit Legislative Caucus. For more information or to be added to the caucus for future communications, please contact the office of Maryland Senator Cheryl Kagan or Tiffany Carter at the National Council of Nonprofits.

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