NCSL Podcasts

On this episode, we talk with members of NCSL’s Childcare Policy Work Group, a bipartisan group of legislators and policy professionals in the field to examine the situation and offer states both resources and key recommendations for state policy action to address the serious shortcomings with childcare in the U.S.

The group produced a report, “Childcare at a Crossroads: A State Legislative Framework for Strengthening Childcare Systems,” that offers an examination of the problems in the systems and recommendations for state policy action.

The guests for the episode include Sen. Tim Reed, a Republican from South Dakota; Maryland Del. Aletheia McCaskill, a Democrat; Linda Smith, a nationally known expert on the childcare system; and Jenna Bannon from NCSL.

The work group acknowledged what is widely understood about the childcare system: It is flawed at its very core, and the result is it fails families in terms of both finding childcare and being able to afford it. It is a system with high demand and a workforce and financial investment structure that cannot keep pace.

Smith, executive director of the Child Care Trust, explained some of the history of childcare over the last few decades and what has brought it to the precarious spot it is now.

Sen. Reed and Del. McCaskill talked about the value of sharing ideas and experiences with colleagues and why each state needs to figure out the best way to meet the childcare challenge in their own way.

Bannon talked about the policy group came together and the value of working on the issue across the aisle.

Resources

• “Childcare at a Crossroads,” NCSL

Nearly 40% of the U.S. population is living with obesity, and it is estimated that obesity costs the U.S. economy billions every year in medical costs, lost productivity and other costs. While people living with obesity were often seen as lacking the willpower to lose weight, the condition has been classified as a medical condition for more than a decade.

On this episode, our guests discuss the issue from different perspectives, all of which bear on state policy decisions that aim to prevent and treat obesity. They include  Tim Dall,  executive director of Life Sciences Consulting at GlobalData Plc and an expert of the economic effects of chronic diseases; Representative Ed Oliver, a Republican of Alabama and chair of the Chronic Weight Management and Type 2 Diabetes Task Force; Representative Marjorie Decker, a Democrat from Massachusetts and chair of the Public Health Committee; and Dr. Tracy Norfleet, is a physician specializing in obesity medicine.

Dall explained what the research tells us about the cost of obesity to the economy and how it affects the nation’s workforce. Dr. Norfleet offered her perspective on the rise of both prevention and treatment strategies for obesity as well as the stigma that still exists toward those living with obesity both in society generally and in the healthcare field.

Representatives Oliver and Decker  discussed how their states are grappling with what type of health insurance coverage to offer both state employees and those in their state’s Medicaid programs.

Resources

• Lawmakers Grapple With GLP-1 Access and Affordability, NCSL
• Taking the Long View on GLP-1 Drugs and Obesity Treatment, NCSL

The 2026 elections will see 6,139 of the nation’s 7,386 legislative seats on the ballot. There will be 146 measures on the November ballot, and including measures voted on earlier in 2026 the total for the year is 165 measures. Voters also will cast ballots for governor in 36 states.

We sat down with two NCSL elections experts -- Katy Owens Hubler, director of NCSL’s Elections and Redistricting Program, and Helen Brewer, who tracks statewide ballot measures—to find out where things stand about a month before Election Day.

Hubler discussed how the election may affect governing trifectas, where one party controls both houses and the legislature and the governor’s mansion; how many states will still have divided legislative control after the voting; and where supermajorities might be won or lost.

Brewer noted that measures related to taxes, bonds and funding are the most numerous, including a number around housing. There also a notable number of measures related to education, and others on election administration, including the ballot measure process itself.

Resources

• 2026 Elections Put Statehouses, Ballot Measures in the Spotlight, NCSL

Our focus on this podcast is cybersecurity at utilities. Electric, gas, and water utilities face billions of automated probes every year. While only a fraction of probes is successful, the cost of such attacks runs into the billions and systems are vulnerable because of aging infrastructure, a large number of small systems without large IT staffs, and sometimes poor cybersecurity culture.

To discuss the threat situation, we talked with David Ketchen, the assistant general manager at the Littleton Electric Light and Water Departments in Littleton, Mass. , and Bill Murray, a senior vice president with Dominion Energy, an energy holding company in Virginia.

Ketchen detailed a widely reported attack by Chinese hackers at his small utility in 2023 that he and others at the utility became aware of after being contacted by the FBI. Working with the FBI and federal officials from Homeland Security, the utility was able to monitor the hackers and there was no disruption of service. But Ketchen said the utility learned valuable lessons that others, particularly at smaller utilities, can learn from.

Murray offered the perspective of large utilities and the systems their organizations use, defend off attacks from attackers, from transnational criminal organizations and nation states.

Resources

• U.S. DOE Resources for State Energy Security

The focus of this podcast is how to use criminal justice data to better understand how a range of programs affect people in the justice system and how policymakers can use such data to decide which programs to support. 

 Criminal justice data in the U.S. is fragmented. Traditionally, there's been no structure to collect and integrate data in a consistent fashion that would allow policymakers to see trends across the states, regions or the nation. 

To better understand the issue, we sat down with Mike Mueller-Smith, an associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan and the director of the Criminal Justice Administrative Record System, or CJARS. CJARS is a joint project between the University of Michigan and the U.S. Census Bureau. The decade-old effort seeks to modernize the data reporting and collection and allow policymakers to track people from their first encounter with the justice system through the eventual resolution of their case. 

Mueller-Smith explained how the project came to be and how legislators and others in state government and beyond can use it. 

Our other guest is Senator Barry Usher of Montana, who serves as majority whip and is the president of NCSL. Usher, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been a long-time advocate for collecting and using criminal justice data to better inform policy. He discussed legislation passed in Montana and how he thinks it will help the state better evaluate criminal justice programs in the future.

Resources

This is the second part of a two-part podcast on energy affordability. In our previous episode, we talked with Representative Craig Williams of Pennsylvania and Janine Benner, director of the Oregon Department of Energy. 

For this episode, we’re joined by Katherine Jereza, an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy who directs the Office of Electricity, and Joseph Pereira, the director of Colorado's Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate. 

In the worlds of both politics and policy, energy affordability is a hot topic. The U.S. saw largely flat electricity demand from the late ’90s until just a couple of years ago. Increasing demand from both homes and businesses, electrification of cars and trucks, the growth of data centers and other factors have strained the nation's ability to meet demand. Rates have increased and legislators are increasingly concerned that consumers will face more and larger rate increases. 

Assistant Secretary Jereza discussed how energy affordability is affected by challenges in both generation and transmission of energy and how data centers offer promise to help run the grid more efficiently. She also discussed resources for states that are trying to keep down energy costs for their residents.

Pereira explained how his office functions as a consumer advocate, how his agency approaches energy affordability, and the concerns he brings to the debate around data centers and how they can affect ratepayers. 

Resources

The focus of the podcast is how states are working toward connecting education and training systems with the workforce. State policymakers are keenly interested in measuring the return on investment or ROI that they can see from state investment in education and training programs of all kinds. 

Our guests are Mary Alice McCarthy, founder and senior director of the Center on Education and Labor at New America, a nonpartisan think tank; Alabama Senator Arthur Orr and Utah Representative Norm Thurston.

All three joined a group of more than 30 legislators, speakers, and staff at a recent conference in Bozeman, Montana convened by NCSL. They discussed ROI and the related issue of career pathways and a variety of other topics and at how to align career and technical education, credentialed programs and apprenticeship opportunities with high-demand occupations. 

McCarthy explained the concept of ROI as it applies to assessing the effectiveness of educational and training programs, the types of questions legislators have about this approach and the different types of data most useful to policymakers. Senator Orr and Representative Thurston offered different perspectives from their states and discussed what they saw as the most valuable data to consider in evaluating the success of programs. 

Resources

Our topic on this episode is energy affordability. In the worlds of both politics and policy, energy affordability is a hot topic. The U.S. saw largely flat electricity demand from the late ’90s until just a couple of years ago. Increasing demand from both homes and businesses, electrification of cars and trucks, the growth of data centers and other factors has strained the nation's ability to meet demand. Rates also have increased and legislators are increasingly concerned that consumers will face more and larger rate increases.

To offer some perspective, we sat down with Representative Craig Williams of Pennsylvania, and Janine Benner, the director of the Oregon Department of Energy. 

Benner discussed how her agency focuses on an energy strategy for the state, how it works with the Oregon Public Utility Commission, and the challenge posed by scores of data centers around Oregon. She also explained how all of these elements work in the context of Oregon's ambitious clean energy goals. 

Williams, who has extensive experience in the energy industry as a lawyer, talked about the demand challenge that's hitting the electrical system now and is expected to continue to increase, the effect of data center growth in Pennsylvania and what he sees as the right legislative approach to the problem. 

Resources

The last year has seen an unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting. It was initiated by President Trump in 2025 when he urged the Texas legislature to redraw maps to favor Republicans in hopes of helping the GOP hold the House and the 2026 midterms. 

State legislatures are at the center of these efforts in blue and red states. To offer some perspective, we sat down with Erin Covey, who leads coverage of the U.S. House for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, and Helen Brewer, who tracks redistricting legislation and developments for NCSL. 

Covey explained the change to congressional maps in Texas, California, Virginia, and other states and discussed how the Supreme Court decision in a Louisiana case involving the Voting Rights Act could affect numerous districts over the next few elections. 

Brewer offered some perspective on the history of redistricting, including mid-decade redistricting. She also discussed the basis and ramifications of the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

Resources

This episode explored mental health and behavioral health in the workplace, including the role of employers and legislators in helping people facing mental health conditions. 

Our guests included Julie Hocker, assistant secretary for Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, and Michigan Representative Curtis VanderWall.

This discussion came during Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to take stock of how mental health issues can affect the workplace, communities, and families. 

Assistant Secretary Hocker addressed the scope of the problem, noting that despite a growing need, nearly 140 million Americans live in places with a shortage of behavioral health workers. She also discussed ways the federal government, states, and employers can support workers facing mental health-related issues. 

Representative VanderWall discussed legislation he sponsored to create a student mental health apprenticeship and internship program in Michigan. He explained why it was needed and his hopes for the program long-term. 

Resources