On this episode, host Tim Storey dives into the world of artificial intelligence with Alex Wirth, the co-founder and CEO of Quorum, a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs tech platform that organizations use to manage engagement, launch advocacy campaigns and keep track of legislation and policy trends in Washington, all 50 states, thousands of cities and even in Brussels.

Storey talked with Wirth about how the platform evolved and how his tech team has increasing used artificial intelligence tools to perform sophisticated analysis. Wirth broke down how he thought AI would affect state government, legislatures and individual legislators. He also offered some advice on managing the use of AI in legislatures, and explained why legislative offices may soon need AI tools to handle all the AI-generated communications they will be receiving. 

Resources

• Quorum

As many as 56 million private sector workers in the U.S. lack access to a retirement savings plan through their jobs. The subsequent lack of retirement savings could cost federal and state governments hundreds of billions of dollars by 2040.

Joining the podcast is John Scott, the director of the Retirement Savings Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Scott explained the scope of the retirement savings problem, the difference between public and private employers, and the most promising approaches to help more people save for retirement.

Also on the show are two lawmakers involved in sponsoring legislation for state-facilitated savings plans. Senator Dallas Harris, a Democrat from Nevada, and Representative Michael O'Donnell, a Republican from Missouri, talked about the legislation they've introduced, how they've worked with employers in their states and the key challenges they faced in passing their legislation.

Resources

• Retirement Policy Project, Pew Charitable Trusts

Millions of Americans experience mental health problems and frequently experience challenges finding treatment, including in the workplace.

That’s the context for national task force— Mental Health Matters: National Task Force on Workforce Mental Health Policy—funded by the U.S. Department of Labor working with NCSL and the Council of State Governments (CSG).

The guests on this podcast are Colorado Lt Gov Dianne Primavera (D) and Tennessee Sen. Becky Massey (R). The two are at-large co-chairs of the task force, which also includes 27 other state lawmakers from both parties.

The two spoke about what they’d learned in the course of the task force’s work, and about the goals, which include developing improved benefit and employment; access to mental health resources in the workplace; addressing underserved communities; and the shortage of mental health care workers.

The task force plans to issue the policy framework this summer that can serve as a resource for policymakers across the country.

Resources

• "Mental Health in the Workplace Toolkit," NCSL

On this episode, Host Tim Storey talks with Cedric King, a retired army master sergeant, speaker, and author, who will be the keynote speaker at NCSL’s Legislative Summit in Indianapolis in August.

King joined the army in 1995, eventually rising to a leadership role in the elite Army Rangers. On his third combat deployment in Afghanistan in 2012, King was leading a patrol in a small village when he stepped on an improvised explosive device and suffered horrific injuries, including the loss of both his legs.

He survived those wounds and just 21 months later, King did what most of us would think impossible: He ran the Boston Marathon on prosthetic blades. He hasn't stopped since. He's competed in marathons, triathlons. He's written books, talked to audiences all over the country, and he's talked about his injuries and why that opened him up to the possibilities that we all have in our lives. 

Resources

• NCSL 2023 Legislative Summit

This is Legislative Staff Week 2023 at NCSL, and we sat down with two staffers to talk about why people come to work in the legislature and why they stay. 

Our guests are Anne Sappenfield, director of the Wisconsin Legislative Council and NCSL staff chair, and Heshani Wijemanne, assistant secretary of the California Senate. Sappenfield began working in the legislature in the mid-‘90s while Wijemanne has been a legislative staffer since 2016. 

Sappenfield and Wijemanne are both lawyers and they talked about why public service in the legislature was an attractive option after law school. They discussed the appeal of being involved in the legislative process, how things have changed in legislatures over the years and the challenge of explaining what they do to family and friends. 

They also talked about the challenges they faced during the pandemic and the critical role staff play in preserving the institution of the legislature.

Resources

• Legislative Staff Week 2023, NCSL
• Office of the Secretary of the Senate, California
• Wisconsin Legislative Council

Host Tim Storey’s guest for this episode is Leonor Ehling, the executive director of the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State University. She is also co-director of the Legislative Staff Management Institute (LSMI), which is a flagship program that NCSL produces jointly with Sacramento State and the University of Southern California.

They discussed LSMI and the hundreds of legislative staffers who have had the opportunity to enhance their management and leadership skills. Ehling also discussed her role as director of the Capital Fellows Program, which places 64 fellows each year in all three branches of California government. She reflected on how two decades as a legislative staffer helped her understand the value of recruiting a diverse group of fellows, many of whom still work in the legislature today.

Resources

• Center for California Studies

Childhood vaccinations in the U.S. were steady for the decade before the pandemic, but have shown a decline for the past couple of years. We sat down with Dr. Pam Shaw, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who explained some of the reasons for that decline. She also discussed other disruptions to vaccinations and some of the challenges to getting children vaccinated, particularly those who were uninsured.

Also on the show is Shannon Kolman, who follows vaccine policy for NCSL. She notes the large number of vaccine related bills introduced in the past couple of years, and explains how legislatures have tried to make it easier for children to get vaccinated.

Resources

• Lawmakers Turn to Data Systems to Guide Vaccine Decision-Making, NCSL
• MMWR, Vaccination Coverage by Age 24 Months – National Immunization Survey – U.S. 2019-2021, CDC
• MMWR, Vaccination Coverage with Selected Vaccines and Exemption Rates Among Child in Kindergarten, CDC
• State Public Health Legislation Database, NCSL
• States with Religious and Philosophical Exemptions From School Immunization Requirements, NCSL
• Vaccine Policy Series, NCSL

Resources

• Senator Whitney Westerfield
• The Sentencing Project
• Why Youth Incarceration Fails: An Updated Review of the Evidence, The Sentencing Project