Efficiency & Economics Will Dominate State Legislatures in 2025
Release Date: 01/16/2025
How Government Can Get Sh*t Done: Marc Dunkelman on Why Nothing Works
An Honorable Profession
This week, we bring you another episode of our series on How Government Can Get Sh*t Done, as co-host Ryan Coonerty sits down with Marc Dunkelman, professor and author of Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress- and How to Bring it Back. Marc discusses the barrier preventing the government from solving problems and achieving broadly shared goals, what it will take to instigate meaningful change, the lessons we’ve learned from Trump’s second term in office, and how building more housing fits into progressivism and government reform. They also talk about The Vanishing Neighbor: The...
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How to Turn Environmental Science into Pragmatic Policy with Rep. Lindsay Cross
An Honorable Profession
Recorded at the NewDEAL Forum Ideas Summit in Atlanta, GA, this week’s special episode features co-host Ryan Coonerty in conversation with Florida House State Representative Lindsay Cross. An environmental scientist, Cross discusses how she draws on personal experiences to fight for the preservation of wetlands and endangered species across Florida. She highlights the bills she has recently championed to improve responses to natural disasters and aid recovery and to enact fair housing policies. Ryan and Representative Cross also talk about what it might take to move Florida back to being a...
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How to Turn Illness into Advocacy with Ohio State Representative Dontavius Jarrells
An Honorable Profession
Recorded at the NewDEAL Forum Ideas Summit in Atlanta, GA, this week’s special episode features co-host Ryan Coonerty in conversation with Ohio House Assistant Minority Leader Dontavius Jarrells. Rep. Jarrells speaks candidly about his childhood experience with lead poisoning, channeling his identity as a survivor of the devastating illness into advocacy as he works to pass comprehensive laws to reduce children’s lead exposure through the legislature. He also talks about the difficulties of serving in a Democratic superminority, how he draws on his experiences growing up in...
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How to Overcome Political Challenges with Stacey Abrams
An Honorable Profession
In today’s episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty sits down with NewDEAL Alumna and former Georgia House Democratic Leader Stacey Abrams at the NewDEAL Forum’s Annual Ideas Summit in Atlanta. Abrams reflects on how she drove progress on big issues as the minority leader in the Georgia House between 2011 and 2017. She talks about how to model values-based leadership and encourages listeners to do the same, developing concrete guiding principles around which to rally their work. In addition, she cautions leaders to listen and understand the roots of people’s problems before jumping to policy...
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How Government Can Get Sh*t Done: Caitlin Lewis on Solving the Public Service Crisis
An Honorable Profession
This week, we bring you another episode of our series on How Government Can Get Sh*t Done, as host Debbie Cox Bultan sits down with Caitlin Lewis. Caitlin is the Executive Director of Work for America, an organization committed to addressing the talent shortage in public service by connecting qualified and passionate problem solvers with positions in state and local government. In today’s conversation, she speaks with Debbie about the shifting public service landscape under the Trump Administration, the economic challenges facing state budgets, and the unique opportunities for state and...
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How Michigan Manufacturing is Handling Tariffs with Lansing Mayor Andy Schor
An Honorable Profession
This week, host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Lansing, MI, Mayor Andy Schor whose community and state are at the center of national politics and the current debates around manufacturing, jobs, and tariffs. Mayor Schor discusses the disconnect between President Trump’s campaign promises versus the actual impacts his policies are having on the lives of the everyday Michiganders who elected him. He digs into the specific impacts of tariffs, including how they threaten mid-Michigan’s auto industry, as well as small businesses through the Lansing region, and speaks more broadly about how mayors...
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ICYMI: How Government Can Get Sh*t Done with Jen Pahlka
An Honorable Profession
Today on An Honorable Profession, we’re revisiting co-host Debbie Cox Bultan’s conversation with Jennifer Pahlka. Pahlka has decades of experience in civic technology. She was U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under former President Obama and recently authored the book, Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better. Debbie and Jennifer talk about the factors that often make government slow or ineffective and what the Department of Government Efficiency is getting wrong about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. Jennifer shares her advice for...
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How Government Can Support Small Businesses with State Senator Christine Cohen
An Honorable Profession
This week, host Ryan Coonerty talks with Connecticut State Senator Christine Cohen. Cohen is a small business owner turned legislator who previously served on her local school board before running for the state senate following the first election of President Trump. In Hartford, she draws on her experiences as the owner of Cohen’s Bagel Company to guide her leadership on various legislative committees, including the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee and the Environment Committee, and now as the Co-Chair of the Transportation Committee. Her impressive record of legislative success...
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How Government Can Get Sh*t Done: Jim Townsend on Public Policy and Legislative Oversight
An Honorable Profession
This week, we bring you another episode of our series on How Government Can Get Sh*t Done, as host Debbie Cox Bultan sits down with NewDEAL alumnus Jim Townsend. Jim is a former Michigan state legislator now serving as the Director of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, which promotes fact-based legislative oversight as a key to the integrity, transparency, and accountability of the government. Debbie and Jim discuss the false choice between defending institutions that aren’t working and tearing the government to the ground and why DOGE and the current political climate might...
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How to Build the Democratic Talent Pipeline with Zach Wahls and Debbie Cox Bultan
An Honorable Profession
This week, The NewDEAL and The Next50 announced a partnership that will build a robust pipeline of center-left talent by combining The Next 50’s electoral backing and campaign tools with the network, policy, and skills support that the NewDEAL provides. The goal is to round out a cycle of support for leaders who can win tough elections, deliver results while in office, and be the Democratic messengers who connect effectively with the broad majority of Americans. CEO Debbie Cox Bultan speaks with NewDEAL Leader and Iowa State Senator Zach Wahls – who joins us today as Executive Director of...
info_outlineIn this week’s episode, host and NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan speaks with Oregon House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, and Georgia Democratic Caucus Chair Representative Tanya Miller. These three NewDEAL Leaders reflect on their 2024 accomplishments – from lowering prescription costs for Pennsylvania seniors to passing landmark, bipartisan bills addressing Oregon's housing shortage. They then look towards the year ahead and discuss their top priorities for the 2025 legislative session, which include improving government oversight to ensure that states can serve constituents effectively, developing new strategies to better communicate with voters and the press, and focusing on economic issues from jobs to housing to healthcare. Tune in to hear which bills Bowman, McClinton, and Miller think will become laws in 2025 and what issues need policymakers’ attention.
IN THIS EPISODE
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[01:04] Introduction to today’s episode, a preview of what to expect in 2025 state legislative sessions.
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[02:11] House Speaker Joanna McClinton tells us what things are looking like in Pennsylvania.
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[04:48] House Majority Leader Ben Bowman shares how he and his team have held onto their majority in Oregon.
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[08:08] What’s on Representative Tanya Miller’s mind with Democrats still in the minority this session.
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[13:06] Speaker McClinton shares where there are opportunities to bring parties together to drive results.
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[16:03] How Representative Bowman is going to follow up on messaging to get tangible results for Oregonians.
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[20:11] Representative Miller overviews her strategies for reaching people with Democrat messages.
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[24:41] Speaker McClinton discusses aligning with other party members to speak to issues in her state.
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[27:27] How Representative Bowman thinks about the relationship between the state legislature and the federal government in the new Trump Administration.
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[30:11] Representative Miller talks about ‘playing defense’ and her focus for this term.
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[33:54] Our guests speak about their hopes for positives in 2025.