NCSL Podcasts

Defiance is often thought as a negative trait, but as our guest on this podcast explains, it can actually be a positive force both in the workplace and in our lives generally. 

Dr. Sunita Sah, a professor at Cornell and an organizational psychologist, is the author of “Defy: The Power of No in a World that Demands Yes,” published earlier this year.

Sah’s book explores why people say yes and go along at work and in other relationships in their lives, even when they want to say no. In this conversation, she explains how most people are conditioned to see defiance as a negative trait. Instead, she argues, defiance based on deeply held values can be a positive.

She discusses how to evaluate a situation where you may want to defy, how we need to train ourselves to see defiance in a different light and why it is so difficult to make that transition. Sah also addressed defiance in the legislative workplace and the complications that can arise in a complex hierarchy. 

Sah also explained that while defying is not risk free, going along when you know you should object carries its own hazards.

Sah will conduct a webinar on May 5 at noon MT as part of this year’s NCSL Legislative Staff Week. 

Resources

• Dr. Sunita Sah’s website

Oral health care for children is required in every state under Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. But dental coverage for adults is optional. And while nearly every state provides some level of coverage for adults, what is covered and who is covered varies widely from state to state and even within states.

Our first guest on this podcast is Ian Hedges, the director of Medicaid and Medicare program policy for the American Dental Association. Hedges explained how oral health care affects overall health and why different levels of coverage for adults under Medicaid can lead to higher costs later on for health complications that arise from neglected oral health issues. One study found that untreated oral health conditions can lead to health complications that cost the U.S. about $45 billion each year in lost productivity.

Our other guests are Sen. Evan Vickers, a Republican of Utah, and Sen. Malcom Augustine, a Democrat from Maryland. Senators Vickers and Augustine explained how their states have approached broadening coverage for adults covered by Medicaid, the challenge in assembling a group of providers that will accept Medicaid reimbursement and some of the particular problems in providing care to those with low incomes and those living in rural areas.

Resources

• Medicaid Adult Dental Benefits Are on the Move in 2024, CareQuest
• Variation in Use of Dental Services by Children and Adults Enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, KFF

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