This is one in a series of podcasts celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Conference of State Legislatures. On this episode we focus on legislative staff, the approximately 30,000 professionals who keep the trains running at this nation’s legislatures.

While legislative staff outnumber legislators by more than 4 to 1, their role is often poorly understood by the public and even by their own families.  Yet the work they do from drafting legislation to providing bill research to keeping the IT systems running is critical to these institutions. 

We talked to a variety of staffers and others who reflected on the growth of staff, their critical role in providing nonpartisan professional advice to legislators, the changing role and challenges staff have faced especially in the last 50 years and what the future holds for them.

Resources

• Legislative Staff, NCSL
• NCSL Marks 50th Anniversary of Strengthening States, NCSL

A new book published jointly by NCSL and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission is aimed at serving as a resource for election administrators, secretaries of state, state legislators and legislative staff. It will be available soon in digital form on the NCSL website. 

“Helping America Vote: Election Administration in the United States” was the focus of this podcast and features a discussion with Commissioners Ben Hovland and Donald Palmer.

The EAC was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which was Congress’ response to the problems with the 2000 election. The commission’s goals include adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, serving as a national clearinghouse for election administration and certifying voting systems. The commissioners are bipartisan. Hovland, chairman until earlier this year, is a Democrat, and Palmer, the current chairman, is a Republican. 

The commissioners discussed a variety of topics related to elections including the pros and cons of our decentralized voting system, the importance of election administration as a profession, the value of a bipartisan approach to election administration and who they hope will read this book. 

Resources

• Elections and Campaigns Program, NCSL
• "Helping America Vote: Elections Administration in the United States"
• U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Medicaid is a program jointly funded by the federal and state governments. It provides health care coverage to nearly 80 million people, primarily those with low incomes, people who are living with disabilities or are in long-term care. 

On this episode we discussed the nuts and bolts of how Medicaid is financed and how states are handling some new challenges in the post-pandemic world. The pandemic affected both who Medicaid covered and the share paid by the federal and state governments.  

In the first segment, NCSL’s Kathryn Costanza was joined by Akeiisa Coleman from the Commonwealth Fund to break down the details of how the program is funded, including how the federal-state share is determined for each state. They also discussed the key drivers of cost in the Medicaid system. 

On the second segment, guests Neda Jasemi from the National Association of Medicaid Directors, and Robin Rudowitz from KFF talk about what they are hearing from Medicaid officials around the country. They discussed how the post-COVID unwinding of patients who had remained on the rolls during the pandemic had significant effects on the program. They also discussed steps states are taking to try to ensure access for Medicaid patients and how states are preparing for any changes in the program at the federal level. 

Resources

• Commonwealth Fund/Medicaid
• Health Costs, Coverage and Delivery State Legislation Database, NCSL
• How We Pay for Medicaid
• KFF/Medicaid
• “Medicaid Financing 101,” NCSL
• “Medicaid Toolkit,” NCSL
• National Association of Medicaid Directors
• “Results from an Annual Medicaid Budget Survey for State Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025,” KFF
• “State Legislatures Address Medicaid Coverage and Payments in the 2024 Legislative Session,” NCSL
• “State Tax Actions: 2024,” NCSL
• “Top five Medicaid budget pressures for fiscal year 2025,” NAMD

The Women’s Legislative Network of NCSL is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Every female state legislator in the 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia belong to the Women’s Legislative Network. The network sponsors informational briefings, hosts skill building workshops for women and opportunities for female legislators to interact. 

Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Democrat of Colorado and the current president of the WLN, and Representative DeAnn Vaught, a Republican of Arkansas and the incoming president of the group, joined the podcast to discuss the anniversary and women in legislatures more generally.

They discussed how they decided to run for the legislature, the obstacles they faced and the perspective female legislators bring to the job. They also shared their passion for encouraging other women to run for office. 

Resources

• Women’s Legislative Network of NCSL

Since 2008, Charles Stewart III, a professor of political science at MIT, has conducted the Survey of the Performance of American Elections, asking voters in every state and Washington, D.C., about their voting experience after every presidential and midterm election. His report from that survey offers a window into how Americans voted—not who they voted for— and if they were satisfied with their voting experience. 

Stewart joined the podcast to offer a preview of the 2024 report, that includes questions about whether voters cast their ballots by mail or in person, how confident they were in the election results and other matters.

Stewart, who is also the head of the head of the MIT Election Data + Science Lab, said some people might be surprised to learn that most voters are both satisfied with the voting experience and have confidence in the results.

Resources

• MIT Election Data + Science Lab

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. 

While the November election did not bring big changes for state legislatures—there was minimal turnover at both the legislative and executive levels—the big change in the federal government may mean significant changes in the state-federal relationship.

State budgets, which determine much of what states can do in the new year, are stable in most states and rainy day funds generally are in good shape, Storey said. But revenues are not on the rise and, as is true at the federal level, that means less willingness by legislatures to fund new programs.

A trend of rising health care costs will also affect states through their Medicaid programs and likely result in a strong focus on controlling costs. Storey also discussed other key areas of policy, including K-12 education, social media and kids and AI. One wild card for states is immigration and how they will respond if the new administration follows through on aggressive plans for deporting people in the country without documents. 

Resources

• Special Report: A Look at 2025’s Trending Legislative Topics, NCSL

Nuclear energy plays a significant role in our national energy supply picture and is seen by some as an invaluable piece of a future clean energy system. About 20% of the nation's energy supply comes from nuclear generation at more than 90 reactors and some experts believe the nation needs another 200 gigawatts of electricity from nuclear generation in the next 25 years.

On this podcast, we spoke with Jake Kincer, a program manager at Clear Path, a center-right think tank focused on accelerating efforts to reduce global energy emissions, and with Rowen Price, a policy adviser on nuclear energy at Third Way, a center-left oriented think tank focused on a range of public policy issues.

Kincer and Price discussed how nuclear energy policy may or may not change in the transition from the Biden to the Trump administration. They explained the role nuclear energy will likely play in the coming decades as energy use soars with the added demand of data centers, AI, new industrial facilities and the electrification of the transportation fleet. They also talked about the state role, the challenge of nuclear waste, and the increasing role of private companies contracting with nuclear power providers to guarantee energy for new developments.

Resources

• Clear Path
• Nuclear Energy Institute
• Nuclear Power and Clean Energy Transition, NCSL
• Third Way

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 we asked two veteran legislators to offer a little advice on a few issues that likely apply in most legislatures.

Sen. Karen Keiser (D) from Washington state and Rep. Walker Thomas (R) from Kentucky shared some of their experiences as new lawmakers and advice on working with the media, responding to constituents and speaking on the floor. 

Keiser, who is retiring at the end of this term, is the president pro tem of the Washington Senate and is the author of “Getting Elected Is the Easy Part: Working and Winning in the State Legislature.” She started her career in the Washington House in 1995.

Thomas has served in the Kentucky House since 2017. He is the chair of Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee.

Resources

• Getting Elected Is the Easy Part: Working and Winning in the State Legislature
• New Member Virtual Orientation, NCSL
• New State Legislators, NCSL

Massive wildfires in the U.S. have caused widespread damage in recent decades. The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas this year, the Marshall Fire in Colorado in 2021 and a series of fires in California in 2020 that were the worst in the state's history are just a few examples. Over the past few decades, the U.S. has spent more than a billion dollars annually to fight wildfires, including $3.5 billion in 2022.

In the past few years, legislators concerned about this trend have asked utilities to provide disaster mitigation plans. In Washington state last year, bipartisan legislation was enacted that requires utilities to provide wildfire mitigation plans for legislators to review. 

Rep. Kristine Reeves (D) of Washington state joined the podcast to discuss the origin of the legislation in her state and why it's important for legislators to review and understand the steps utilities are taking to reduce the risk of wildfires, particularly in Western states. 

Also joining the podcast was Anne Sherwood, area vice president for wildfire mitigation for Xcel Energy, a utility that operates in eight states. She explained how utilities are using wildfire mitigation plans to try to prevent wildfires and also to better manage the effect on utilities when fires do start.