Boise resident Will Cavanaugh says he started the SignOn petition on a whim last week.
Last week, Boise resident Will Cavanaugh, 77, found an email in his inbox. It was from left-leaning political action group MoveOn.org. Would he like to write a petition about anything? “Sure,” he thought. Healthcare was on his mind, given the recent Supreme Court ruling. “How about the Medicaid expansion?”
So Cavanaugh, who describes himself as an Idaho native and retired federal probation officer, did the modern version of taking a clipboard door-to-door. He wrote up an online petition. It was addressed to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter. It was short and to-the-point. “We call on Governor Otter to honor the spirit of the Supreme Court decision on the health care act and accept the federal financial help offered,” it began.
It was posted last Wednesday. “On Thursday, there were 50 people who had signed up,” Cavanaugh said today. “Now I’m up to 1,824! They want me to take it to the Governor when it gets to 2,000!” Continue Reading →
The Idaho Department of Labor says it has started to withhold federal unemployment insurance benefits from people who’ve been overpaid.
Department spokesman Bob Fick says the agency had been collecting overpayments by withholding half of a jobless person’s weekly benefit payment, now the department is able to withhold the entire benefit. Continue Reading →
Public lands, recreation, tourism and energy development contributed $1.54 billion to Idaho’s economy last year.
That’s according to a report out this week from the U.S. Interior Department. The department manages 12 million acres of public land in Idaho, or nearly a quarter of the state. The agency also manages energy and mineral development on that public land, administers grants and payments to rural timber producing counties, and oversees mine reclamation. Continue Reading →
Justin and Chris Black, outside the rustic home that serves as Chris Black’s cow camp
Black describes the lay of the land on his family’s ranch in the Owyhees.
The Blacks walk through the corral gate on their way to catch and saddle their horses.
Chris Black rides toward a small group of cattle seven miles from his cow camp.
Slowly, Black moves the cattle toward a different grazing area.
Mark Mahon explains how to tell the difference between a Douglas Fir and a Ponderosa Pine.
Mahon is a fourth generation logger. He hopes his own son, now in eighth grade, will follow him into the business.
Freshly cut logs line a newly cut road on the private land Mahon’s company has been hired to manage and thin.
While modern logging relies on large and expensive machines, these remain the basic tools of a logger’s trade.
After the Council School District lost its shop program, locals donated time, goods and services to start it up again.
On a Friday evening, Council’s small downtown bustles, but its main street is marked by vacant shop windows.
In Idaho, the timber and ag industries are heavy hitters. They play big roles in the state’s history and identity. But the recession has dealt them different hands, dividing rural Idaho into winners and losers. StateImpact Idaho takes a look at two industries, two counties, and two economic fates.
Rancher Chris Black and his son, Justin, manage a thousand head of cattle on 135,000 acres in the foothills of southwest Idaho’s Owyhee Mountains. They spend most of their time miles apart – miles from anyone, in fact – working cattle. But this day is a little different. They’re walking to the corral not far from the small solar and propane-fueled house where Chris Black lives on and off from April through November. Continue Reading →
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter during his State of the State and Budget Address early this year.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter will form working groups to “research and carefully examine” Idaho’s options in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the main components of President Obama’s health care law. That’s according to an opinion piece distributed to media by the governor’s office this afternoon.
The court’s ruling thrust large decisions back on state leaders, namely whether Idaho will form a state-run health insurance exchange, and whether it will opt into the Medicaid expansion that is a central component of the Affordable Care Act.
The governor’s office is in the process of establishing two working groups. One will take up the insurance exchange question, and the other will focus on the ramifications of accepting or rejecting the Medicaid expansion, said the governor’s press secretary, Jon Hanian. Continue Reading →
Jeff Sayer became the Dept. of Commerce director Oct. 3, 2011. He was appointed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter.
The director of the Idaho Department of Commerce and members of the Idaho Economic Advisory Council are meeting in Pocatello this week to tour area companies, talk with local county and city leaders, and explain the director’s plan to grow Idaho’s economy.
Director Jeff Sayer took the helm of the Commerce Department in October 2011. His plan for strengthening Idaho’s economy includes generalities like: look at what other states are doing to develop business, evaluate projected growth, and develop communication strategies.
The plan also includes some specifics. The department wants to track Idaho’s 2 percent lodging tax as a way to measure tourism growth. It also wants to create a web portal designed as a “one stop shop” for business, track and monitor companies that go on trade missions, and fully launch the governor’s Global Entrepreneurial Mission or IGEM.
Texas Governor Rick Perry said Monday he will not expand his state’s Medicaid program or create a health insurance exchange, leaving 6.2 million Texans without health insurance.
That’s according to Reuters, which also reported Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured people in the country.
“The announcement makes Texas the most populous state that has rejected the provisions. Some 6.2 million people are without insurance in Texas, or 24.6 percent of the state population, the highest percentage in the nation. California has more people without insurance but a lower percentage.
Perry joined fellow Republican governors in Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Louisiana in rejecting the two provisions of the new law, according to AmericanHealthline.com. They hope that November elections will result in Republicans winning the White House and enough seats in Congress to repeal the law.” – Reuters.com
In Idaho, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter hasn’t reached a conclusion about whether to expand the state’s Medicaid program. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the Affordable Care Act did away with the broad penalties states would have faced for opting out of the expansion. Otter’s spokesman said last week the governor is consulting with legislative leaders, Idaho’s Attorney General and government agency directors.
Idaho is among states with the highest percentage of people without health insurance. According to this Gallup report, nearly 20 percent of Idahoans are uninsured. As we reported last week, if Idaho’s governor decides not to expand Medicaid, a sizable chunk of the population could be left in limbo.
Each week we look back at the five posts that you clicked on, commented on and shared the most. So, we think of it as the weekly essentials. Take a look, and let us know what you think.
It's not yet clear whether Idaho will elect to expand Medicaid eligibility and accept federal funding provided under the health care law.
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on the federal health care overhaul left states with important decisions to make. One of the main questions is whether to go along with the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
This graphic from The Washington Post lays out the problem. If states opt in, all residents with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty line will be eligible for Medicaid coverage. Continue Reading →
Governor's Housing Committee members Sen. Les Bock and Rep. Phylis King (D-Boise) want to sell the governor's mansion.
Idaho’s never-lived-in governor’s mansion will cost the state about $180,000 to maintain from now until next July.
The state has justified that cost by saying the mansion is frequently used by government departments and the first family. So, we wanted to know just how often it’s used, and how much rent it brings in on a yearly basis.
The hilltop house was donated to the state by the Simplot family in 2005. The Idaho Department of Administration has kept track of state agency events at the mansion since 2009. Since June 19 of that year it has been used for 42 state retreats and meetings. Those events brought in a total of $6,800 in rental fees over the last three years. Continue Reading →
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