Report NCSL 2023 Annual Report

NCSL Officers/CEO Letter

NCSL roared through its 48th year that ended in June 2023 and accomplished hundreds of goals in service to you and the legislatures you serve. This report details those accomplishments with data and stories showing the extensive work done by the professionals on the NCSL staff who are committed to the legislature and representative democracy.

We strongly urge you to read the report carefully to understand the extraordinary work done to support legislatures. It is with great pride that we compile this information to demonstrate the return on investment that states get from their support of the nation's premier organization devoted to all those privileged to serve as legislators and as legislative staff.

The staff of NCSL believe in the legislative institution and American democracy. We feel honored to work for legislators and staff across the political spectrum. Our goal is to make all legislators and staff better at their jobs, regardless of their ideology, because we believe in the democratic system where Americans choose who will represent them in capitols from Juneau to San Juan and from Augusta to Sacramento. We also believe that providing unbiased, nonpartisan and reliable research and data is more important than ever, given the massive increase in misinformation and deception. Remaining a trusted source for legislative decisionmakers continues to be a foundation for all the services and programs NCSL delivers.

There are far too many highlights from FY 2023 to preview here, so please take the time to find out about the considerable success of the Conference over the past year by spending time reviewing the full report. I think you will be impressed.

We thank all of you for your service to your state. We look forward to hearing from you during the next year as we continue to work by your side to strengthen legislatures and deliver for the people who entrust you to lead them. NCSL will begin celebrating 50 years of service next year, and the future looks bright.

NCSL Chief Executive Officer
Tim Storey 

NCSL President
Robin Vos
Speaker Of The Assembly, Wisconsin

NCSL President-Elect
Brian Patrick Kennedy
Speaker Pro Tempore, Rhode Island

NCSL Staff Chair
Anne Sappenfield
Director Of The Wisconsin Legislative Council

Policy Research, Tracking and Reports

NCSL's State Policy and Research Division comprises 10 issue-focused programs that provide nonpartisan research and support on a wide variety of policy issues impacting states. In addition to identifying trends and unique policy approaches, the division produces policy publications, hosts convenings for state legislators and staff, and creates searchable databases covering a host of issues that incorporate pending and enacted state legislation. In fiscal year 2023, the division produced dozens of publications, hosted more than 30 issuefocused invitational meetings and tracked state legislation in more than 82 databases.

NCSL staff also applied their extensive policy knowledge when responding to research requests from legislators, legislative staff, NCSL Foundations sponsors, the media and others. Often, these requests involve more complicated or extensive analysis than that available on the NCSL website. Legislators and staff rely on NCSL to complete these customized requests in a timely manner-and research requests are one of our members' most valued services. In FY 2023, NCSL staff completed more than 3,000 research requests that provided unbiased, comprehensive information and allowed legislators and staff to learn from other state approaches.

By The Numbers

• 15.2 million ncsl.org pageviews.
• 1.3 million average monthly pageviews.
• 3,118 research requests completed.
• 1,400-plus issue areas tracked.
• 82 legislative databases accessed 400,000 times.
• 815 new webpages published.
• 2,418 registrants for 38 for policy webinars.

Top 5 Most-Viewed Databases FY 2023

1. Body-Worn Camera Laws Database
2. Statewide Ballot Measures Database
3. NCSL 50-State Searchable Bill Tracking Databases
4. State Elections Legislation Database
5. Prescription Drug State Bill Tracking Database

Top 5 Most-Viewed Webpages FY 2023

1. NCSL Homepage
2. State Medical Cannabis Laws
3. Policy Research
4. 2024 State Primary Election Dates
5. Daylight Saving Time | State Legislation

Highlights

NCSL's Center for Results-Driven Governing focuses on supporting legislatures as they explore evidence-based policymaking issues. In FY 2023, the center supported the Governing for Results Network-a peer learning network of legislators, legislative staff and executive branch officials from 11 states-that held several meetings to share research and best practices.

The NCSL Children and Families Program hosted NCSL's first interdisciplinary Youth and Young Adult Policy Summit in 2022, focusing on the well-being of youth and young adults and policy options for states. In addition, the team helped legislatures take a bite out of the national housing crisis by fulfilling more than 100 research requests and tracking nearly 2,500 bills in 2023 alone-an 83% increase in legislative activity over 2022.

In October 2022, the NCSL Criminal and Civil Justice Program, in partnership with the Employment, Labor and Retirement Program, launched the "Legislator Police Academy," a peer-learning program comprising 16 legislators and legislative staff. The group continues to meet in 2023 virtually and in person.

The NCSL Education Program successfully held five meetings in June 2023 for legislators and staff: Higher Education Task Force, Working Group on Non-degree Credentials, Education Finance Fellows, Early Learning Deep Dive and Education Chairs Retreat. The team hosted about 100 legislators and staff in June from nearly every state and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The NCSL Elections and Redistricting Program covered state politics and statewide ballot measures for the November 2022 election for NCSL members, the media and NCSL Foundation sponsors. They consistently accounted for some of the most viewed materials on NCSL's website, with more than 3 million unique users in the last 18 months.

The NCSL Employment, Labor and Retirement Program convened a national task force on mental health in the workplace in collaboration with the Health Program. The group met three times over the year to hear from experts and learn from one another about policy options to improve employment outcomes for people with mental health challenges and address the mental health workforce shortage.

NCSL's Environment, Energy and Transportation Program launched several new initiatives, including a partnership to explore transportation user fees, a comprehensive environment and environmental health bill tracking database, and two new energy policy groups for legislators and legislative staff: the Energy Staff Network and the Legislative Energy Security Working Group.

The NCSL Fiscal Affairs Program created a new Budget Working Group of legislators interested in responsible longterm budget strategies. The group plans to meet over the next year and develop sound state budgeting practices recommendations. The Fiscal Program also tracked current state budget conditions and tax-cutting measures due to strong revenue collections.

The newly established Financial Services, Technology and Communications Program responded to more than 200 research requests, provided technical assistance, wrote articles and conducted a podcast on a host of issues, including AI, privacy, broadband, securities regulation, financial literacy and alternative home financing.

The NCSL Health Program hosted the state public health symposium with representation from nearly 70 legislators and staff from more than 30 states, the Northern Mariana Islands and Washington, D.C. The Health Program staff also testified or provided presentations to committee members in more than 15 states on issues related to prescription drug affordability, EMS, health care workforce, cannabis, maternal health, telehealth, certificate of need laws and others.

Testimony, Technical Assistance and Training

NCSL is committed to providing objective, bipartisan, fact- and evidence-based research, technical assistance, committee testimony, high-level professional development training and other resources to support the policymaking process. Additionally, NCSL provides:

NCSL Leaders' Center

This hub assists legislative leaders in facing the challenges of managing the institution, crafting public policy, creating consensus out of dissension, communicating with Congress and key officials and more.

Legislative Staff Services Program

The nation's only organization with staff professional associations for those with legislative jobs convenes legislative staffers who serve in similar functions with unparalleled training opportunities.

Legislative Training Institute

Through creating and delivering high-quality professional development programs for legislators and staff, the institute seeks to strengthen the legislative institution.

NCSL Institute for International Cooperation

To strengthen the bonds between America's state legislatures and the international community, the institute TRUSTED TESTIMONY, Technical Assistance and Training Curt Stedron, director of the NCSL Legislative Training Institute, presents to legislators and staff at the NCSL Legislative Summit in Denver. facilitates meetings, study tours and exchange programs to find innovative solutions to the day's most pressing policy issues.

NCSL Center for Legislative Strengthening

The center provides nonpartisan research and analysis for state legislators and staff about legislative operations, the legislative process, legislator pay and demographics, legislative human resources issues and the separation of powers.

NCSL partnerships and collaborations include:

• The Quad Caucus (a convening of the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators (NAPACSL), National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL), National Caucus of Native American State Legislators (NCNASL) and the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL).
• The Women's Legislative Network, which works to promote the participation, empowerment and leadership of women legislators.

Highlights

The NCSL Leaders' Center went coast to coast in the last fiscal year to bring dozens of legislative leaders together for professional development and policy discussions at symposiums in New York and San Diego. During the transition to the new biennium, the Leaders' Center connected with 40 new top leaders, providing valuable resources and assistance as they began their first sessions in these crucial roles.

Over the past fiscal year, the Legislative Training Institute doubled its training staff to a total of four trainers, created four new training modules, and completed more than 226 trainings in 35 states, reaching an audience of 12,064 legislators and legislative staff.

NCSL's Institute for International Cooperation (IIC) had another year of growth and expanded engagement with NCSL members and global partners. The Parliament of Ghana became NCSL's second International Affiliate Member in January 2023, joining the Quebec National Assembly as NCSL's second duespaying member from outside the United States. The IIC also facilitated legislative study tours, exchanges, and training programs with international partners, ranging from the European Union's Committee of the Regions to India's National Legislators' Conference to welcoming a Kenyan delegation for training, and several others.

NCSL's Center for Legislative Strengthening served NCSL's members with expertise in legislative operations and management in various ways over the last year. The team answered nearly 400 research requests, providing NCSL members with rapid information, analysis and consulting on various institutional issues. CLS staff visited 11 legislatures to offer testimony, consulting or committee chair and new member training. It provided virtual testimony in several other states on topics ranging from legislative emergency powers, staff hiring practices and legislator pay and benefits. The program was also presented at two NCSL leaders' meetings, before four international delegations, and at three staff professional development seminars. Pages on the separation of powers and legislative sessions are the two most-accessed web resources maintained by CLS, with 154,000 views over the past year. CLS completed NCSL's annual legislator pay and benefits survey, completed a consulting project on legislative staffing issues for a legislative chamber in fall 2022 and began two others in spring 2023.

The Legislative Staff Management Institute, held in July 2022, marked the 19th year of NCSL's partnership with USC and CSUS. Over 70 applicants (the largest pool to date) translated to two cohorts totaling 57 participants from 32 states during the eightday residency program. The curriculum emphasized learning by doing, effective communication skills, team building, negotiation, conflict resolution and creating professionalism based on the core values of representative democracy.

The LSCC approved a name change for the popular online professional development Legislative Staff Certificate Program. Now called Legislative Staff Institutional Essentials, the program's objective is to provide newer legislative staff with a broader context about legislatures and their role within the institution and to inspire them to continue their career in their legislature. More than 160 legislative staff applied for the program in its third year, with 108 accepted. They completed 10 hours of learning modules covering five topics: Characteristics of American State Legislatures; Ethics and NCSL's Model Code of Conduct for Legislative Staff; Concise, Clear Communication Skills; Budgeting 101; and Leadership Skills within the Legislative Ecosystem.

Staff Hub, a multi-staff association event held in October 2022 in Atlanta, featured participation from six of the nine professional staff associations. Now referred to as "Staff Summit," It included a stand-alone LSCC meeting, pre- and post-conference meetings and sessions covering topics such as nonpartisanship, evidence-based policymaking and legislative rules and procedures. The LSCC has recommended that NCSL look at hosting this type of event every five years.

The NCSL State-Tribal Institute supported the Quad Caucus convening in November 2022. This first-of-its-kind meeting brought together more than 600 legislators from the four national caucuses of color for concurrent annual meetings.

NCSL in Washington, D.C

NCSL serves as the eyes, ears and voice of state legislatures in Washington, D.C. NCSL's Washington staff tracks and reports on the actions in our nation's capital and lobbies Congress, the White House and federal agencies for the benefit of state legislatures in accord with the policy directives and resolutions recommended by the standing committees and adopted at the NCSL Legislative Summit Business Meeting. NCSL also tracks and reports on actions taken by the U.S. Supreme Court that impact states.

Stats

• 2,500: Number of legislators and staff representing the 50 states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who served on NCSL standing committees.
• 295: Number of legislators and staff representing 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico who served on NCSL task forces.
• 10: Testimonies presented to state legislatures on IIJA and IRA.
• 27: State Legislatures News articles written on SCOTUS cases.
• 42: Number of issues of Capitol to Capitol published. Since 1994, NCSL's Capitol to Capitol has been an information service of the Washington, D.C., office that provides up-to-the-minute information on important federal legislation and advises members on when to contact their congressional delegations to show support or disapproval of bills that affect the states.
• 20: Formal letters/comments made to Congress and the administration.
• 100-Plus: Hill meetings attended.

Highlights

Passage of a bill that allowed states, territories and localities to use certain federal COVID-19 relief funds for new categories of spending and an extension of the deadline by which states needed to expend funds, from Dec. 31, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2026.

Working with congressional staff to have states and, in one case, NCSL specifically added to two bills in the 118th Congress. This includes the Disaster Assistance Simplification Act and the Restore the Partnership Act. NCSL continues to work on the passage of the bills.

The addition of co-sponsors to the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. The bill protects banking institutions that choose to offer services to legitimate cannabisrelated operating consistent with their respective state laws. NCSL will continue to advocate for the passage of the SAFE Banking Act.

Briefing the House Regional Leadership Council, created by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY) and chaired by Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD), on the state impact of the significant pieces of federal legislation passed in the 117th Congress-the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), and the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (CHIPS).

NCSL continues to provide state legislatures guidance on implementing ARPA, IIJA, IRA, BSCA and CHIPS.

NCSL regularly engages with numerous sub-departments within all 15 federal departments, in addition to EPA, OMB, USTR, SEC, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and others. • NCSL created a new Executive Committee Task Force to examine the state-federal partnership on higher education.

Events, Communications and Outreach

To connect legislators and legislative staff, NCSL provides a platform for bipartisan discussions on critical issues by hosting in-person and online meetings, communicating year-round via digital, print and social media channels, and conducting outreach through two of the conference's programs: state liaison-NCSL staff assigned as points of contact for every state and territory; and state coordinators- legislators who serve as ambassadors in their chambers.

Stats

• 4,961: Number of attendees, representing all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and 17 countries, at the 2022 Denver Legislative Summit.
• 764: Number of registrants from 47 states, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 2022 NCSL Base Camp online meeting.
• 5,000-Plus: Number of people attending 80 in-person NCSL meetings.
• 15.2 million: Number of ncsl.org pageviews
• 1.3 million: Average monthly pageviews
• 300: Number of State Legislatures News articles published.
• 3,023: Number of legislators and legislative staff visited in 49 capitols by NCSL staff. 39,600: Number of media mentions with a potential reach of 36.1 billion.
• 5,811: Number of new followers across four social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram).
• 4.2 Million: Number of social media impressions across all platforms.
• 27: Number of live Town Hall videos produced on hot policy topics, elections, the Legislative Summit and more, resulting in more than 95 hours watched on Facebook, 107 hours watched on Twitter, nearly 3,000 views on Instagram and 11,277 views on LinkedIn.
• 27,766: Number of NCSL podcast downloads.
• 70,000: Potential NCSL podcast listeners.
• 29: Number of episodes of the "Our American States" podcast, averaging 1,600 listeners per episode, an 11% increase over FY 22.
• 11: Number of episodes of the "Legislatures: The Inside Storey" podcast, averaging 1,420 listeners per episode, a 5.2% increase over FY 22.
• 7: Number of the "Across the Aisle" podcast, launched in November 2022, averaging 1,200 listeners per episode.
• 32%: Average open rate of NCSL emails.

Highlights

A key milestone reached in January 2023 was the successful launch of a complete revamp of the NCSL website to address necessary technical updates and enhance user experience. Also implemented: a new cloud-based media management platform for storing, optimizing and delivering images, videos and other media assets; and a web governance and optimization platform to enhance the site's quality, ADA compliance and SEO performance.

Media sites that quoted NCSL in FY 2023 include The Washington Post, Associated Press, CNN, FOX News, MSN News, The New York Times and State Health Notes with a potential reach of 36.1 billion per mention (unique visitors per month).

New branding guidelines continued to be refined in FY 2023, including color palette adjustments and new, intuitive, expanded PowerPoint and Word templates.

The Legislative Video Resource Center saw an 89% increase in views since the removal of a login requirement for basic-level videos. An exclusive new video series, "Governing With the Brain in Mind," created by best-selling author John Medina for NCSL members, is available on the platform.

The new role of state outreach manager was introduced in January 2023, marking the first time NCSL has employed a staff member dedicated to state relations work.

NCSL 50th Anniversary

Planning has already begun for the celebration of NCSL's 50th anniversary in 2025, including special products and projects, as well as unique NCSL branding.

Capitol Visual Assets

All capitols in the 50 states and territories are being documented through photos and video for use by NCSL members, like the image below. The project is expected to be completed in 2024.

Base Camp

NCSL produced its third Base Camp virtual meeting, with legislative staff making up 75% of the 764 total attendees. The agenda, with more than 30 sessions, was filled with a mixture of policy and professional development sessions, and featured fan favorite Eric Bailey. Nearly 74% of the participants said they planned to attend Base Camp in 2023.

Forecast '23

In December, NCSL launched a new end-of-the-year meeting, "Forecast '23" in San Diego. Speakers included "Brain Rules" author John Medina, Habitat for Humanity International CEO Jonathan Reckford, economist Christopher Thornberg and communications expert Sarita Maybin. The meeting featured low fees for legislators and staff, a maximum of three sessions at a time and a focus on key issues for 2023. More than 84% of attendees said they "feel better prepared for the policy issues that will come up" in the 2023 legislative sessions.

Internal Operations

NCSL’s Operations Division comprises four organization-wide departments supporting the day-to-day operations of the conference: Building and Facilities; Human Resources; Information Technology; and Meetings.

Highlights

Human Resources is responsible for supporting the talent at NCSL, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training and development, compensation and benefit administration, policy development and compliance and employee engagement and retention. In FY 2023, HR has worked hard to increase candidate pools for open positions. The department's efforts have increased pool diversity by 9.75%, with an average time to fill positions (from posting to hiring) of 53 days. The department processed 33 internal promotions and hired and onboarded a new HR recruiter.

Information Technology is responsible for overseeing NCSL's information technology systems and infrastructure. The IT Department is critical to ensuring that NCSL's technology is up-to-date, secure, and functioning correctly to support the organization's mission. In FY 2023, the IT department published the new and improved NCSL website, re-envisioned it with a focus on member preferences, designed the Concur solution to streamline the process around NCSL travel and expenses. The department also implemented a robust system to replace the legacy listserv tool to provide enhanced capabilities for member groups to collaborate, and added to account profile features enabling members to view and edit their meeting badge information.

Meetings manages and coordinates NCSL's conferences, meetings and events. The department is responsible for planning and executing numerous events throughout the year, including the annual Legislative Summit, NCSL Base Camp, Forecast, invitational meetings and other policyfocused events.

Finance and Accounting

Responsible for ensuring the efficient financial management and controls necessary to support all business activities, NCSL's Finance and Accounting division is critical to the organization's ability to carry out its mission.

Highlights

The Finance and Accounting team implemented numerous technical improvements to organizational processes, including travel and expense management, contract lifecycle management and lockbox banking. The team continues working hard on enhancements to better serve NCSL staff, members and partners.

NCSL's annual audit was successful, with a clean opinion issued.

NCSL's general fund ended FY 2023 with a surplus, resulting in NCSL building on its rainy-day reserve established last year. Dues collections were very strong, with dues received from 56 of 57 legislative members. The Legislative Summit in Denver also exceeded financial projections. The FY 2024 budget was approved at the spring Executive Committee meeting with an additional contribution to the reserve fund and a slight projected surplus.