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Exploring the policies and politics that help or stand in the way of job creation.

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May 8, 2013

Bottom Rung: Gov. Otter Touts Idaho’s Low Wages To Attract Gun Companies

For the last two years, Gov. Otter has pushed for lower business taxes, a state-based health insurance exchange, and hiring tax credits.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter is using Idaho’s low wages as a selling point. In a letter sent to out-of-state gun manufacturers last month to encourage them to relocate to Idaho, Otter touts the comparatively low cost of labor here. This week we’re reporting on wages in Idaho. The governor portrays as an asset the wage [...]

May 7, 2013

Idaho Leaders Renew Their Pitch To Gun Makers

Click above for an interactive map of all gun and ammunition manufacturers in Idaho.

Idaho leaders are renewing their push to draw gun and ammunition makers to the Gem State. Yesterday, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter declared May “2nd Amendment Protection Month.” And as new gun control laws go into effect in a handful of states, the Idaho Commerce Department says it’s “well-poised” to lure gun and ammunition companies to [...]

May 1, 2013

Rankings Of Idaho’s Business Climate? Take Them With A Grain Of Salt

In Meridian, a worker trains to become a mechanical technician.

Why does Idaho come in ninth in one index evaluating state business taxes and climates, but 31st in another? According to a report published today by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit that focuses on accountability in economic development and business subsidies, there’s a simple answer: the enterprise of ranking states’ business climates is fundamentally flawed. [...]

April 26, 2013

Regulators Zero In On Short-Term, High-Interest Loans

There are 222 payday lenders in Idaho.

More than a dozen states have put caps on payday loan interest rates, limiting and in some cases shutting down the industry in many states. The pitch to cap rates in Idaho hasn’t been successful. Still, big banks have started offering short-term, high-interest loans to make up for the loss in the payday lending industry. [...]

April 25, 2013

Will Idaho’s Health Insurance Exchange Bring More Competition?

4-24 Stethoscope

The Obama administration has taken a few hits this month over the federal health care law. The administration’s decision to put off creating an insurance marketplace aimed at small businesses brought dismay. Then, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) predicted a “train wreck coming” as key aspects of Obamacare are implemented. His concern? People simply don’t understand [...]

April 24, 2013

Panel Selects Idaho’s Health Insurance Exchange Executive Director

Idaho is on the fast-track to create its own online health insurance exchange. This week, the newly-minted exchange board met for the first time and voted unanimously to hire a Portland consultant to head the project. The Spokesman-Review reports the exchange board has voted to hire Amy Dowd as executive director. She has accepted the [...]

April 16, 2013

Did You Pay Idaho Use Tax? Probably Not…

Receipts -- taxes sales tax

Did you remember to include the use tax on your Idaho income tax form? Judging by the numbers, probably not. Idaho is one of 45 states that collects a use tax. But as NPR’s Planet Money reports, the vast majority of taxpayers don’t pay it. There is one mistake, in particular, that lots of people [...]

April 10, 2013

Gov. Otter Announces Health Insurance Exchange Board Members

Idaho is on its way to building and operating a state-based health insurance exchange. The Legislature signed off on the state-run online insurance marketplace last month. Now, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has selected the 19-member board which will “set the rules and regulations for implementing” the exchange. Here’s the list from the governor’s office:

April 8, 2013
April 5, 2013

What Idaho’s $2.78 Billion Budget Looks Like

Idaho lawmakers approved a $2.78 billion budget for fiscal year 2014 that begins in July. That’s an $81 million increase, 2.9 percent, over fiscal year 2013. As the chart shows, nearly half of the state’s annual budget goes to fund K-12 public schools. When you include funding for colleges, universities, and “other education“, that’s more [...]

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