Our American States

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 Building a Master Plan

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.         Resources LTIS Episode 4 Transcription The Education Trust

Our American States Newborn screening in the U.S. is the practice of testing every child in the country for a number of disorders, many of which can be addressed if caught early. States are in charge of newborn screening and receive advice from federal agencies. On this podcast, Peter Kyriacopoulos, the director for public policy at the Association of Public Health Laboratories, discusses how the screening works, how it differs from state to state, the role public health laboratories play and the challenges they face. He also explains how the recommended uniform screening panel, or the RUSP, helps guide states in deciding which screenings to include. A second guest is Kelsie George from NCSL, who tracks legislation related to newborn screening. She fills us in on the legislative landscape on the topic.         Resources American Association of Public Health Laboratories Early Detection, Diagnosis and Treatment Through Newborn Screening, NCSL LegisBrief NewSTEPs Newborn Sc

Legislatures: The Inside Storey Mike Haridopolos, former Senate president in Florida, talks with Tim about how he went from teaching college history to taking the reins as the president of the Senate in one of our largest states. Haridopolos, who spent 12 years in the Florida Legislature and led the Senate from 2010-12 now runs his own consulting firm, writes books and works frequently with political campaigns. He discusses his own path in politics, the challenge of keeping a caucus together, offers some advice for aspiring leaders and shares a few thoughts about his political heroes.         Resources LTIS Episode 3 Transcription MJH Consulting

Our American States State agencies charged with ensuring that custodial parents collect child support face a daunting challenge. Census Bureau data indicates fewer than half of custodial parents receive their full support payments. Traditionally states have relied on civil contempt statutes to compel the noncustodial parent to pay up. But that process—which can result in onerous civil procedures and even jail time—often is unsuccessful and some research shows states can end up paying more to collect the payments than the custodial parent receives. On this podcast, Heather Noble, assistant director for the Arizona Division of Child Support Services, and Michael Hayes, an official with the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, discuss a new procedural justice approach to child support that seeks to use principles such as respect, understanding and neutrality to increase the sense of fairness that parents feel in what is often a difficult process. While the project is not finished, they

Our American States A Starting Point is a civic engagement platform with some unusual star power behind it. The website, which features a bipartisan cast of elected officials discussing policy, was co-founded by actors Chris Evans and Mark Kassen with another friend, medical tech entrepreneur Joe Kiani. Kassen is the guest on the podcast, and he discusses why they started the site, the pros and cons of being from Hollywood in the political world and why it helps to have Captain America on your side. The site, which has been up for about a year, features a series of video collections that range from pieces shot and produced by the platform’s crew to daily video posts sent in by elected officials from around the country. Kassen and his partners want more engagement with state legislators, and they hope that will happen as pandemic restrictions ease.         Resources A Starting Point OAS Episode 145 Transcription

Our American States On this podcast, we look ahead to the new term of the U.S. Supreme Court and look back at some decisions from the past term. Our guide is Lisa Soronen, the executive director of the State and Local Legal Center. Soronen keeps a sharp eye on the U.S Supreme Court and monitors the court for decisions that affect state and local governments. The center also files amicus briefs in some cases. We discussed the court’s new term and high-stakes cases around abortion, gun rights and the so-called shadow docket. She also discussed cases from the previous term.         Resources OAS Episode 144 Transcription State and Local Legal Center

Our American States The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 sparked a cascade of state legislation affecting policing policy. There were more than 3,000 bills that were considered in legislatures, and more than 400 were signed into law. The legislation came from both sides of the aisle. For this podcast, we spoke with Rep. Leslie Herod, a Democract from Colorado, and Sen. Whitney Westerfield, a Republican from Kentucky. Herod discusses legislation she sponsored shortly after Floyd’s death that was one of the first pieces of legislation enacted in the nation. She also talks about how the death of Elijah McClain in Colorado galvanized efforts to pass legislation. Westerfield is a leader in criminal justice issues in Kentucky, where the death of Breonna Taylor helped spur action around no-knock warrants. He discusses how bringing all the parties together was critical to passing good legislation. Also on this episode is Amber Widgery, who tracks a number of criminal justice issues for NCS

Legislatures: The Inside Storey Leadership is a perennial topic of interest for those in the legislative world and few are better at digging into the topic that Nancy Koehn. Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robinson chair of Business Administration. She is a prolific writer, the author of dozens of journal articles and several books. Her most recent book was “Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.” It explores how five great leaders dealt with crisis. She is also frequently quoted in the press and shares what she’s learned studying leaders for more than two decades.  She joins host Tim Storey, the executive director of NCSL, for this wide-ranging conversation about the qualities of great leaders, the nature of courage, whether a great leader needs a vision and much more. Koehn also shares her favorite books and movies, some of which might surprise you.         Resources Na

Our American States NCSL’s Legislative Summit is back Nov. 3-5 in Tampa, Fla. On this podcast, we talk with three of NCSL’s experts about some of the sessions coming up at the Summit. Natalie Wood, director of NCSL’s Center for Legislative Strengthening, discusses a session on legislative oversight during an emergency, lessons learned by legislatures during the pandemic and why tension between the executive and legislative branches is actually a sign of a healthy state government. The second guest is Erica MacKellar, a fiscal expert from NCSL, who previews a session on the state of state budgets and some of what attendees will hear from economist Dan White, a speaker at the Summit. Kate Blackman, director of NCSL’s Health Program, rounds out the group. She highlights sessions planned for Summit that will look at the pandemic and its effect on the health care system, mental health and child care. Resources 2021 Legislative Summit  OAS Episode 142 Transcription

Our American States Redistricting is finally upon us. The once-a-decade process uses data from the census to draw congressional and state legislative districts in the states. Legislatures are in charge of redistricting, though commissions also play a role in some states. Delayed data from the U.S. Census Bureau has left states behind in the process compared to earlier cycles. On this podcast, Wendy Underhill, who oversees election and redistricting issues at NCSL, talks about how the delays have affected states, what they did to prepare, new tools citizens can use to make their voices heard, and some thoughts on what she’s learned during her immersion over the past few years in the world of redistricting.         Resources NCSL Redistricting Homepage OAS Episode 141 Transcription

Legislatures: The Inside Storey Welcome to the inaugural episode of “Legislatures: The Inside Storey,” a new podcast from the National Conference of State Legislatures. On this first episode, Tim Storey, the executive director of NCSL, sits down with John Medina, a molecular biologist best known for his book “Brain Rules,” which explains how what we know about the brain can affect how we teach our children, approach our jobs and even change our daily lives. They discussed how we communicate, the perils of power and how Medina switched from being an animator to studying brain science.       Resources Brain Rules website

Overview NCSL’s Our American States podcast presents a special six-part series, “Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures.” This new mini-series covers the history, characters and stories of state legislatures in America, from the beginnings in Jamestown, to the present day and into the future. Each episode in the series will contain interviews with experts from inside and outside the legislative world to provide a comprehensive view of historical events and their legacy in today’s legislatures. Extras will include extended guest interview clips, articles in NCSL’s State Legislatures magazine, blogs and resources for those who want to dive deeper into topics covered in the podcast. Episode 6 Our special podcast miniseries concludes by looking to the future of legislatures and how—in this centuries long relay of representative democracy—those currently serving will pass the baton to those who will lead these institutions into the future. With an exemplary lin

Our American States The cost of higher education, the amount of student loan debt, the percentage of students who receive degrees and other related issues have been debated in legislatures and on the campaign trail. Proposals for a new federal state-partnership on higher education and for free community college are among the issues being debated. On this podcast we hear from Kevin Carey and Jason Delisle, both experts on higher education policy. Carey is the vice president for education policy and knowledge management at New America, a policy research organization. Delisle is a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute. The two discussed the track record on affordability, access and outcomes in U.S public higher education and the different approaches states have taken. They also assessed proposals for state-federal partnerships and the likelihood that different states might have very different attitudes toward the type of partnerships being proposed. While they differ on a number of points, both agreed

The crushing strain of caring for patients the last year and half of pandemic has taken a toll on health care workers. Legislatures play an important role in this area by creating laws for licensure and regulation. On the podcast to discuss the workforce and how to help health care workers cope with the current challenges is Dr. Luis Padilla, the associate administrator for health workforce at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Padilla also serves as director of the National Health Service Corps. Padilla discusses how HRSA supports states in strengthening the workforce. He also talked about the growing role of telehealth and the important role states have in regulating scope of practice rules. The other guest is Sydne Enlund from NCSL. Enlund tracks of scope of practice laws across the country and maintains a website on the topic with interactive maps dealing with nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists and more. She discusses the role legislatures have played in modif

One of the most promising areas of cancer treatment involves identifying the cancer a person has and using therapies targeted at just that cancer. This field of precision medicine or targeted medicine is not well understood by most lawmakers or the general public. On the podcast to discuss this emerging field is Dr. Carl Morrison, a molecular biologist and pathologist who is the senior vice president of Scientific Development and Integrative Medicine at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, N.Y. He is one of the nation’s leading researchers in the field. Our second guest is Karmen Hanson, a policy expert at NCSL. She explains why these new treatments are important for legislators to understand, both so they can aid their constituents and because of the costs to the health care system.         Resources Advancing Health Equity, Addressing Cancer Disparities, American Cancer Society/Cancer Action Network    Biomarker Testing, LUNGevity C

This is the second of a two-part series on the Quad Caucus, a coalition of the four national caucuses of color representing Asian-Pacific American, Black, Native American and Hispanic legislators. Combined, the four groups represent more than 1,400 state lawmakers. On the earlier podcast, we spoke with Washington Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos (D) and Kansas Representative Barbara Ballard (D) about their work with the Quad Caucus. On this show, we talk with Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto (D), president of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, and Senator Benny Shendo (D), chair of the National Caucus of Native American State Legislators. Both are from New Mexico. They discussed the work of their caucuses, the census and redistricting, some of the challenges facing their communities and more.       Resources National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators  National Black Caucus of State Legislators National Caucus of Native American State Legislators

Civility in politics seems to be a subject of almost constant discussion. Our guest today has written and spoken extensively on the topic. Teresa M. Bejan is an associate professor of political theory and fellow of Oriel College at the University of Oxford. She is the author of “Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration,” published in 2017. Bejan will be the keynote speaker at NCSL’s online Base Camp event on Aug. 4 at 11 a.m. ET. In this podcast, she talks about how civility works in politics, the difference between civility and talking about civility, the polarized state of our politics and more. Resources NCSL Base Camp OAS Episode 136 Transcription Teresabejan.com

Traffic safety is an issue of critical concern to state leaders, especially after a year that saw a sharp increase in traffic deaths. On this podcast to address the issue is Steven Cliff, the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA. Cliff spent several years in a variety of roles at the California Air Resources Board and previously worked as a research professor at the University of California at Davis. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry. Cliff discussed how NHTSA and the states can work together on traffic safety issues, the increase in traffic fatalities during the pandemic, ongoing efforts to combat impaired driving and much more. Resources National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NCSL Transportation Homepage OAS Episode 135 Transcription

The guest on this podcast is Paul Manna, a professor of government and public policy at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. Manna has written extensively about federal and state education policy. A key focus of Manna’s research concerns the role of principals in K-12 education and ways to identify and groom candidates to become principals. Manna talks about the critical role principals play, how a principal pipeline can work and why the investment in principal training is worthwhile. He also shared some thoughts for how legislators can approach the issue and policies that can help foster school leaders. Resources Developing Excellent School Principals to Advance Teaching and Learning: Considerations for State Policy, Wallace Foundation New book tells story of Illinois’ principal preparation reform, Illinois State University North Carolina State University Educational Leadership Academy OAS Episode 134 Transcription “Principal Pipelines: A Feasible, Affordable, and Effective Wa