Learning from Best in the West: the Council of State Governments

Written By: Olivia McCaughan

LEAP has had a wonderful time exploring the many sights of Utah and learning numerous facts about Salt Lake City, but the fun hasn’t stopped there. Today was our first official day attending the Council of State Governments Western Legislative Conference. Throughout the day, we attended many interesting speaker sessions, including diverse topics such as Rural Healthcare Transformation Planning, AI in Education, Identifying Human Behavior, the Housing Crisis, Building the Grid of Tomorrow, and Geothermal Energy.

Conference Sessions

Though we had the opportunity to attend several sessions, we did have a few favorites!

One such session was the Rural Healthcare Transformation Planning presentation featuring Ben Eikey, Manager of State Training and Development for the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy, with Representative My-Linh Thai (WA) and Representative Matt Soper (CO) moderating. Over the past 20 years, rural hospitals have faced financial crises, and Eikey offered a template to concerned citizens and legislators for how to encourage serious discussion of the issue.

He encouraged a four-step process: (1) becoming as knowledgeable as possible about the issue, in this case, rural healthcare, (2) creating a list of open questions, (3) using the answers to those questions to find evidence, and finally (4) identifying resources, advocates, and committees that are necessary to stimulate a solution for the lack of funding.

This outline provided a guide to what goes into the creation of legislation. As future lawyers- and potential legislators- we all found this very intriguing.

While Jacob, Isis, and I were learning about rural healthcare, Robin and Allie were attending a session on AI in the classroom. With moderation by Carrie Butler of SchoolAI…

…Representative John Arthur (UT), Senator Kirk Cullimore (UT), and Caleb Hicks, CEO of SchoolAI, discussed the impact of a recently passed Utah Bill that will require school boards to create and implement a “best use guide” for software– including AI.

We were surprised to learn that 20 percent of high-school students have had a romantic relationship with AI, and that 80 percent of high-school students use “Shadow AI” (as far as we can tell, this means unapproved AI platforms). With these facts in mind, the panelists were in agreement that: AI had to be incorporated into curriculum, schools and teachers had to teach students how to use this software effectively, honestly, and transparently, and the school systems had to ensure that the software they approved is safe and good for children.

Lunch

For lunch, we all came together to converse, learn more about the CSG, and to hear the keynote speaker of the day, former NYPD Officer, former Secret Service Agent, and author Evy Poumpouras.

The lunch highlighted the work done by many of the leaders of the Council of State Governments (West), including Chair Senator Todd Weiler (UT), Vice-Chair Rep. Lauren Matsumoto (HA), Chair-Elect Senator Loki Tobin (HA), and Past-Chair Rep. Mike Yin (WY), as well as Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks. These discussions culminated in some groan-worthy “dad jokes” by Senator Weiler, as well as an award presented to him by Executive Director of State Government Affairs Council, Beth Loudy.

The highlight of the lunch was keynote speaker Evy Poumpouras. Drawing from her experience in law enforcement, her knowledge of six languages, and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, Poumpouras spoke on the importance of understanding how to converse with others by responding to their headspace. Using techniques taught to her in training, she discussed the different kinds of behavior that a person can exhibit: the warm, social Monkey, the leading Lion, the patient Mouse, or the frank T-Rex.

Each of these “behavioral types” can be exhibited by someone, depending on the situation, and each should be responded to in a different way. While the Lion and the Mouse complement each other, a Monkey responds best to a Monkey, and a T-Rex to a T-Rex. Central to Poumpouras’s argument is that (1) these behavioral characteristics are not permanent, (2) the members of the audience have agency, and they can adopt behaviors that advance their goals, and that (3) good faith behavior fosters trust. Accordingly, the key takeaway was that we should learn to regulate our own reactions to make conversations and meetings more productive. While we may not be using these tools to interrogate terrorists, we are very curious to see how implementing this style affects our communication!

The Red Iguana

Continuing our theme of exploring ethnic food in Salt Lake City, we tried out what our hotel described as the “Best Mexican Food in Salt Lake City,” The Red Iguana. Established in 1985 by Ramon and Maria Cardenas, the restaurant now has three locations in the city, and is a fixture among locals.  As noted by Eater, “The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, so arrive early to ensure you snag a table or be prepared to wait.”

With us having a “working dinner,” we avoided the wait by getting the food “to go” and eating at the hotel. Olivia and Allie got the “Killer Nachos,” and we learned that the “killer’ may have referred to the size of the nachos—the portions for which were as large as they were scrumptious.  Similarly the quesadilla—which resembled a burrito more than the Tex-Mex quesadilla—had more fillings than were expected and beef that was particularly flavorful. Robin and Jacob had the steak a la ranchero, which,  received a strong thumbs up from Jacob and a “so-so” from Robin.  The sides were a major plus, with the queso and the chile poblano con queso being standouts. 

There are many who are suspicious of Mexican food outside of Mexico or Texas, but this is nonsense.  Chefs can be developed anywhere, and chefs can emigrate to any city as our experiences in Salt Lake City have attested—with excellent results.

Conclusion

We had a very educational and insightful first conference day, learning about a vast array of topics that have already begun to spark debates and conversations among the Ambassadors. We are all looking forward to the sessions that tomorrow holds and are sure that they will be just as engaging and exciting as today’s!