On this episode, four experts on Medicaid discuss how the program is financed, how states are handling some new challenges in the post-pandemic world and changes the new federal administration may bring.

Two leaders of the Women’s Legislative Network of NCSL, one a Democrat and one a Republican, joined the podcast to discuss the group’s 40th anniversary and women in legislatures more generally.

Election expert Charles Stewart III, a professor at MIT, joined the podcast to discuss the results of his Survey of the Performance of American Elections, asking voters in every state and Washington, D.C., about their voting experience. His 2024...

Power-sharing in tied legislative chambers is typically no picnic. But about 15 years ago in Oregon when the House faced a historic tie, things went so smoothly people from both sides of the aisle are still talking about it today. 

At the start of each year, we sit down with NCSL CEO Tim Storey to discuss the most important issues facing state legislatures in the upcoming session. Tim discussed state budgets, technology, education policy and how the new federal...

Two experts on nuclear energy policy joined this episode of the podcast to discuss how nuclear energy policy may or may not change in the transition from the Biden to the Trump administration, and how a steep increase in energy demand because of...

About 1,000 new lawmakers were elected in November’s election and will be joining their legislatures in the new year. Every legislature is different, of course, but for this episode we asked two veteran legislators to offer a little advice...

Massive wildfires in the US. have caused widespread damage in recent decades. On this episode we’re joined by a utility executive and a state legislator to discuss the value of wildfire mitigation plans and how legislators can use them to...

On this episode, we talk with three people who have worked for the past two years on NCSL’s Task Force on Higher Education Affordability and Student Outcomes in 2022. They explained how the project started and how the final report will help...

This is one of the series of podcasts reflecting on the 50th anniversary of NCSL. For this episode, our focus is the legislative institution and how today’s legislatures evolved over the last 400 years. Our guests include a historian of...

Artificial intelligence is a topic of considerable concern to legislatures and more than 30 states passed AI-related legislation this year. Our three guests on this episode discuss the legislative landscape for AI, and efforts in Alaska and...

On this episode we get perspectives from three people involved in the debate over coverage of GLP-1 drugs, a group of medications that are used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity and are becoming increasingly popular as a weight-loss...

Americans of all ages do not score well on surveys of civic knowledge. Tammy Wehrle, the legislative education and outreach officer in the Wisconsin Legislature, tells us what she’s learned about the state of civics education through the...

This podcast is the first of several to observe the 50th anniversary of NCSL. We track the development of legislatures over the last 400 years and talk with a range of guests about the role of legislatures in the jigsaw puzzle of American...

After a tsunami of campaign spending on the 2022 governor’s race in Oregon—a record-breaking $70 million—a broad coalition of lawmakers worked together to pass the state’s first campaign finance reform this spring....

Data centers, the increasing use of AI and reindustrialization in some parts of the country are driving a big increase in energy demand that concerns officials at all levels of government, including state legislators concerned about the ability...

This is the third in a series on the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in legislatures and how it affected legislative staff. Three staff leaders discuss how procedures changed, what they learned personally about leadership, and how their...

Melissa Furman is a trainer, coach, and consultant who's worked with legislative staff. She joined the podcast, the second in a series focused on legislative staff, to discuss the aftermath of the pandemic in the workplace including burnout,...

Two people with deep experience working in the area of disability rights--Eve Hill, one of the nation's top disability rights lawyers, and Nevada Assemblywoman Tracy Brown May, who's worked on numerous initiatives to aid those with...

Three legislative staff leaders joined the podcast to talk about the long-term effects of the pandemic and how their institutions coped with the emergency.

Two legislators from Indiana and Maryland with deep expertise in work-based learning programs such as apprenticeships and credential programs sat down to discuss how programs in their states are offering youth more post-secondary options.

State Rep. Kimberly Moser, a longtime neonatal and intensive care nurse, decided it was time to bring the best minds together to improve the odds for Kentucky mothers and babies. The result of months of research and discussion yielded a range of...

It's budget season in state legislatures, and we sat down with two experts on state budgets to discuss the key steps in the budgeting process, revenue estimates and the overall state of state budgets going into the new fiscal year. 

Two experts on the nation’s drug overdose crisis join the podcast to discuss how state and federal governments are tackling the problem that has led to more than 110,000 deaths in the 12-month period that ended last September. The vast...