College enrollment among young people has been in a steady decline, according to research from Pew. Some indicators show young people increasingly turning toward apprenticeships and other work-based learning and credential programs that help them get a good job. Indiana and Maryland have been leaders in the field and on this podcast, we sat down with two legislators intimately involved in the issue--Rep. Bob Behning (R-Ind.) and Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D-Md.) Behning said participation in an NCSL study group helped inform legislation he has pursued to ensure more options for youth employment and to destigmatize technical education. Augustine explained the approach Maryland has taken to youth employment and the role of the Maryland Apprenticeship 2030 Commission in shaping future efforts. Resources Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, Maryland Public Schools Nondegree Credential State Policy Framework, NCSL Office of Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship, State of Indiana Strategies for Youth Employment, NCSL

Public health officials and lawmakers in Kentucky had been trying to address the complex issue of maternal mortality for years. Rep. Kimberly Moser had long been a neonatal and intensive care nurse, and knew the struggles around maternal health in the state. Lawmakers had taken steps in past sessions, but last year when the latest numbers came out, Moser decided it was time to bring the best minds together to finally improve the odds for Kentucky mothers and babies. The result of months of research and discussion yielded a range of solutions in a bill dubbed the “Momnibus.”

It's budget season and in the 46 states that start the new fiscal year on July 1, people are hard at work getting their budgets ready. Those state operating budgets amount to more than a trillion dollars a year. But what exactly does getting the budget ready entail? To discuss that, we sat down with Krista Lee Carsner, the executive director of the Fiscal Review Committee for the Tennessee General Assembly and the president of the National Association of Legislative Fiscal Offices. She explained the importance of accurate revenue forecasts, how the budget hearing process works on both the executive and legislative sides of state government and how individual legislators can get a say in the budget process. Our second guest on this podcast was Erica MacKellar, a fiscal policy expert with NCSL. She broke down the fiscal condition of the states, how they're coping in the post pandemic period and how revenue projections are very much on the mind of those crafting state budgets. Resources FY 2025 State Budget Status, NCSL VIDEO: State Budgets and Taxes, NCSL

Cities, states, courts and district attorneys’ offices levy fines and fees on defendants at nearly every stage of the criminal justice system. Fines and fees are often used to finance essential functions of the court and as a deterrent for people from committing future offenses. In recent years, critics have argued that fines and fees used to fund the judiciary create a perverse incentive for judges to impose more fees. Another target for critics are jurisdictions that use criminal justice fees as revenue generators. For those with few resources, fines and fees stemming from traffic tickets and criminal convictions can perpetuate a cycle of poverty. A significant state legislative trend has been to limit the number and amount of fines and fees in the justice system or abolish them altogether. Our two guests on this episode both sponsored successful legislation in their states to abolish fees and fines for juveniles. Rep. Sean Lynn, a Democrat from Delaware, and Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, a Republican from Montana, talked about why they got involved in this policy area and the changes they want to see in their states. Resources NCSL’s Criminal Records and Reentry Toolkit Assessing Fines and Fees in the Criminal Justice System Policymakers Weigh Pros and Cons of Court Fines and Fees Road to Reform: State Approaches to Addressing Debt-Based Driver’s License Suspensions

Overdose deaths from all drugs, including opioids, have risen to more than 110,000 in the 12-month period that ended last September. The vast majority of those deaths near 80% involved fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. State legislatures have been active in passing legislation to address the crisis and enacting more than 180 bills in 2022 and 2023, most of them focusing on harm reduction strategies such as medication-assisted treatment. However, the number of deaths remain stubbornly high. On this podcast, we sat down with Michelle Putnam from the Division of Overdose Prevention at the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Charlie Severance-Medaris, who tracks state policy related to drug overdose prevention for NCSL. Putnam discussed the steps her office is taking to understand the patterns of drug use and overdoses and working with local public health departments to better equip them to deal with the situation. She also talked about the frustration faced by state and local officials, families, law enforcement, and others at the ongoing death toll despite decades of efforts to control illegal drugs. Severance-Medaris discussed the trends in legislation aimed at addressing the drug overdose problem and whether states may change their approach. Resources Injury Prevention Database State Options to Increase Access to MAT SUD Tx Database Nonfatal Overdose Dashboards, Drug Overdose, CDC Injury Center Overdose Data to Action: Funded Jurisdictions, Drug Overdose, CDC Injury Center Stop Overdose, CDC SUDORS Dashboard: Fatal Overdose Data, Drug Overdose, CDC Injury Center

State legislatures in blue and red states are taking up measures to protect children on social media, especially because Congress has been unable to agree on solutions and the evidence of harm to young users continues to mount. It's a complicated problem and most of the states' laws are being challenged in court by a trade association and other groups who believe they are unconstitutional.

A key part of modernizing the nation’s electric grid involves adding long-distance transmission lines, the power lines that carry electricity over hundreds of miles. To better understand this critical part of the electrical infrastructure, we sat down with Melissa Birchard, a senior adviser in the Grid Deployment Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The office was created in 2022 to work on a variety of issues related to the electrical grid and, in particular, integrating power from new renewable energy projects. Melissa talked about some of the issues involved particularly in the planning and siting of transmission lines. She explained the need for new transmission lines to bring renewable energy from remote areas of the country to the cities and towns where it’s needed. Our other guest is Alex McWard from NCSL, who tracks legislation related to the state role in transmission line planning and siting. He discussed the role of state legislatures in transmission projects and in working with other states on regional projects. Resources Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits Program, U.S. Department of Energy Electric Transmission Planning: A Primer for State Legislatures, NCSL Engagement Between States and Regional Transmission Organizations, National Council on Electric Policy Grid and Transmission Program Conductor, U.S. Department of Energy Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, U.S. Department of Energy National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor Designation Process, U.S. Department of Energy Transmission Facilitation Program First Round Selections, U.S. Department of Energy

Federalism is the foundational structure of our nation’s government. The dynamic sharing of power among federal, state and local governments is the key to understanding American governance in the view our guest on this podcast, Don Kettl, professor emeritus and the former dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an expert on federalism. Kettl, who is the author of more than two dozen books and also writes a monthly column for Governing, joined the podcast to discuss the current state of power sharing between the state and federal governments. He explained why he thinks states increasingly are the center of domestic policymaking, talked about the power relationship between legislatures and governors, and how he expects the balance of federalism to shift in the coming decades.

Texas Senator Judith Zaffirini has broken state records by a long shot. She has cast more than 72-thousand consecutive votes. She has had a perfect attendance record—except that one time she skipped on purpose to make a point. She has passed 1,388 bills—more than any other legislator in Texas history. All with bipartisan support—no matter who was in the majority. After becoming the first Hispanic woman elected to the Senate in 1986, the Democrat will become Dean of the Senate as the most senior member this session.

Paying for college and other post-secondary education continues to be a challenge for many. Already, 44 million Americans owe more than $1.7 trillion in student loan balances. At the same time, there's strong evidence that lifetime earnings increase for those who attend and complete college or other post-secondary education. The guests for this podcast are Ethan Pollack , a senior director at Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit aimed at expanding economic opportunity, and Andrew Smalley, an education policy expert at NCSL. Pollack discussed a number of innovative financing strategies involving philanthropic organizations, employers, government and financial institutions that offer the promise of helping students pay for their education at a lower cost. And in some instances that better scale the cost to the potential earnings of the graduate. Smalley explained the steps states are taking to help facilitate these innovative approaches and also broke down what most students and families pay for post-secondary education. Resources Jobs for the Future “How Can Innovative Finance Transform Our Postsecondary Education and Training Systems?,” Jobs for the Future

Tim Storey, NCSL’s CEO, joined the podcast to discuss the year ahead in legislatures and what we can expect in policy and politics in 2024. Storey said most state budgets will start the year in excellent shape, though legislators will continue to cast a cautious eye on economic conditions. He also pointed out that it’s important to keep in mind that 2024 is an election year and that tends to influence what happens in legislatures, including what is often a somewhat less active legislative agenda than you usually see in the first half of a two-year session. Storey expects concerns about technology, especially artificial intelligence, to be high on the priority list. Housing challenges and the fentanyl overdose crisis are also likely to get a great deal of attention in most legislatures. At least some legislatures also are likely to look at legislation affecting migrants, especially in light of inaction at the federal level. And, of course, education and health care, two big budget items for states, also will get considerable attention. Resources Special Report: A Look at 2024’s Trending Legislative Topics

While many voters may think of primaries as the warmup act for the general election, many races in this country at the local, state and federal level are decided by primaries. By some estimates, fewer than 40 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are actually competitive between the parties. In most districts, whoever wins the primary in the dominant party wins the general election. The 2024 primaries are right around the corner so on this podcast, we sat down with Ben Williams, an elections expert at NCSL, to talk about the different types of primaries and why primaries are so important. Williams explained the different approaches states take to the primary system and some of the election history that brought us to this system we now use. He also discussed NCSL’s recent publication, “The State’s Primary Toolkit,” that includes extensive background information on primaries’ changes in states since 2000 and a great deal more. Resources State Primaries Toolkit

The popularity of remote work soared during the pandemic, but only for those is some jobs, particularly tech focused or computer-based jobs. While exact figures are not available, some estimates are that more than 25% of the workforce still is working remotely or in a hybrid arrangement, where employees spend some time in the office and some working remotely. That’s a decline from the pandemic but still a significant portion of the workforce. On this episode, we explore the tax ramifications for states of remote work. We’re joined by Charlie Kearns, a tax attorney, and James Privette, until recently a legislative specialist in NCSL’s Washington, D.C., office. They discussed how remote work affects personal income taxes and business taxes, and how states are responding to the changing landscape. They also had suggestions for learning more about the issue. Resources Remote Work Revolution: How Can Remote Work Taxation Affect State Budgets, NCSL Webinar State And Local Tax Considerations of Remote Work Arrangements, NCSL

NCSL’s yearlong Legislator Police Academy brought together lawmakers from very different backgrounds to work across the aisle and across the country on policy topics related to police accountability. In this episode, we learn how the legislators put aside seemingly insurmountable differences and, with patience and constructive conversation, discovered plenty of common ground.

Emergency medical services face significant challenges in rural America. Just one is the time it takes to summon an ambulance. While most people living in urban and suburban areas expect an ambulance to show up within minutes of making a 911 call, the situation is very different for about 4.5 million Americans who live in ambulance deserts, according to a nation study conducted by Maine Rural Health Research Center and the Rural Health Research & Policy Centers. Those folks can expect to wait 25 minutes or more for emergency services to arrive. We sat down with two experts on the subject -- Dia Gainor, executive director of National Association of State EMS Officials, and Davis Patterson, director of the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center at University of Washington—to discuss that and other challenges to EMS in rural areas. Other issues they discussed included the severe workforce challenges in staffing rural EMS services, the role of legislatures in addressing rural EMS needs and the promise of community paramedicine in addressing both emergency and nonemergency care in rural areas. RESOURCES Ambulance Deserts: Addressing Geographic Disparities in the Provision of Ambulance Services, Rural Health Research Gateway (May 2023) Beyond 911: Expanding the Primary Care Role of First Responders through Community Paramedicine Community Paramedicine: Connecting Patients to Care and Reducing Costs EMS Legislative Database The EMS and Community Paramedic Workforces Respond to COVID-19, WWAMI Rural Health Research Center (June 2023) The National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials State Actions To Address EMS Workforce Shortages You might need an ambulance, but your state may not see it as ‘essential,’ Stateline (September 2023) WWAMI Rural Health Research Center

Health care costs in the U.S. over the last 20 years have grown faster than the cost of other goods and services. Commercial health care costs, which include about half the health care market, have grown faster than Medicaid and Medicare spending. Our guest on this episode is Alyssa Vangeli, a senior consultant with Bailit Health, a consulting firm in Massachusetts where she works with states to provide health policy analysis and consulting around the commercial health market. Vangeli explained what's driving the increase in costs, which segments of the health care economy are seeing the greatest cost increases, and the efforts by the federal and state governments to better understand the cost drivers and try to contain them. She also offered examples of what different states are doing and the success of those efforts. Resources 2023 Health Costs Seminar, NCSL Bailit Health Health Costs, Coverage, and Deliver State Legislation, NCSL Health Policy Snapshot: Addressing Commercial Health Care Prices, NCSL State Actions to Control Commercial Health Care Costs, NCSL

On this episode, Tim Storey sat down with Bruce Mehlman, founder of Mehlman Consulting, a D.C-based bipartisan lobbying firm whose clients include Walmart, AARP, Boeing and the Mayo Clinic. Mehlman’s perspective is also shaped by his experience as an assistant secretary of Commerce in the George W. Bush administration and time in private industry. Mehlman has a savvy, insider’s take on how Washington works and sees the day’s events with a historical perspective that is often missing from our political analysis. Mehlman and Storey talked about the forces shaping our political world, the turn to populism in recent years in numerous countries the challenge that poses to our institutions. They also talked about Mehlman’s slide decks, that over the years have become well-known among policy types for their clear, data-driven, often humorous analysis of political, economic and social trends. Resources Bruce Mehlman’s PowerPoint Decks Mehlman Consulting

Summary: Sometimes, the aisle lawmakers work across isn’t the one that separates the two parties. It’s the divide between rural and urban. That’s what happened in Colorado when urban voters narrowly passed a plan to reintroduce the endangered gray wolf. Lawmakers from both parties representing the rural part of the state—where ranchers and hunting outfitters feared livestock and business losses with wolves on the prowl—teamed up to minimize any economic impact.

The ability to forecast how an infectious disease like COVID-19 will behave is a critical tool for public health officials. On this podcast, we sat down with Dr. Roni Rosenfeld, a computer scientist and a leader in the field of disease forecasting. Rosenfeld leads the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and also works with Carnegie Mellon’s Delphi Research Group, which is one of several organizations that are part of the newly developed Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling Network established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rosenfeld explained that, over more than a decade, researchers working on disease forecasting have taken weather forecasting as their model in creating usable tools to better understand the path of infectious diseases. He explained the type of data disease forecasters use – everything from hospital records to Google searches—to develop their forecasts and how that information can help those in health care. He also discussed why it’s important for legislators and others in state government to understand how to use and interpret disease forecasting. Resources Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University

Safeguarding energy systems from cyberattacks in a growing concern in the U.S. The Colonial pipeline ransomware attack a few years ago and some other high-profile incidents caught the public’s attention. But as the guests on this podcast point out, energy systems are facing an increasing number of attacks. On the podcast to discuss the situation are Lynn Constantini, a cybersecurity expert with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and Patrick Miller, CEO and owner of Ampere Industrial Security who brings more than 35 years of experience in the security field to the discussion. While the federal government has some regulatory authority over utilities, state legislatures have a key role in this area through their oversight of public utility commissions. Since the start of 2021, states introduced nearly 500 bills and passed 99 measures related to energy security as of August 2022. Constantini and Miller discussed the rise in threats and attacks, the type of attacks that are most common and the difference between attacks on information technology, or IT, and operational technology, or OT. They also discussed the steps states already have taken to counter cyberattacks. Resources 2021-2022 Energy Security State Legislative Review: Cybersecurity and Physical Security, NCSL Ampere Industrial Security Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response, U.S. Department of Energy National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Cybersecurity Standards