Forbes says Boise is the second best place in the country to raise a family. Second to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The business magazine looked at income, cost of living, school quality, crime rates, and housing affordability to make its top picks.
“The relative strength of Grand Rapids’ housing market is enough to push it past the next two cities on our list, Boise, Idaho and Provo, Utah, both of which are particularly noted for low crime and high school quality. Not to mention the chance to mix urban and outdoor lifestyles. Continue Reading →
Idaho state revenue collections are up for the fourth month in a row.
The Division of Financial Management reports March tax collections exceeded expectations by almost $4 million, even though a large number of tax refunds are going out the door this time of year.
That $4 million is 11 percent of the total revenue collected for the month of March.
The Division of Financial Management’s report indicates the economy is doing better than state analysts predicted.
“The major contributors to this month’s excess were the sales and individual income taxes. Sales tax collections of $75.5 million were $4.4 million ahead of the forecast of $71.1 million. The individual income tax topped its forecast by $3.4 million, $40.4 million versus $37.0 million.” – DFM
Corporate income tax collections fell just short of projections.
Rural Idaho counties are becoming, well, rural-er.
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau show populations continue to decline in rural parts of the state.
Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho
Fairfield, Idaho
Census numbers released this week look at population movement between 2010 and 2011. According to the Idaho Department of Labor’s analysis, more counties lost population over that year than at any other time since the 1980s. Continue Reading →
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter sent out this tweet earlier today:
He’s signed House Bill 563, which lowers the top corporate and individual income tax rates from 7.6 and 7.8 percent respectively, to 7.4 percent.
The Associated Press has reported a family of four in the top tax bracket, with a gross income of $100,000, will see their annual tax bill go down by $71. The Division of Financial Management says the cut will affect about 17 percent of Idaho taxpayers.
For Idaho’s gas station owners, that’s cold comfort.
The Wall Street Journaltoday points out that rising gas prices are taking a toll on independent station owners. “Until the past five years or so, many gas stations were, in fact, owned by the big energy companies,” the article says. “But most have since sold off their portfolio of stations to focus on more profitable areas, such as wholesale fuel sales.” Continue Reading →
Rep. Brian Cronin (D-Boise) introducing the 2012 IJOBS package at a press conference on Jan. 31, 2012.
Democrats in the Idaho Legislature again offered a slate of bills they said would boost economic growth and add jobs to the economy.
They dubbed it ‘IJOBS’, and it’s not the first time they’ve attempted to get similar measures through. Democrats introduced the first round of IJOBS bills back in 2010. They all failed.
This year, Democratic lawmakers seemed more hopeful IJOBS 2.0 would go somewhere. But again, all six proposals failed.
This American Life delved into D.C. deal-making in its most recent episode, Take the Money and Run for Office. In it, former Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick details the never-ending task of fund raising. “I needed to raise $10,000 to 15,000 dollars a day,” Minnick says in the piece. “And you only do it by elbow grease.”
He needed to raise so much because, as a conservative Democrat running in Idaho, his reelection bid was expected to carry a high price tag — $2.5 million or more. Minnick was defeated by Republican Rep. Raul Labrador in 2010.
Until now, Idaho's 6 percent sales tax applied to free samples of beer, wine and other beverages.
Free samples of beer and wine are now tax-free. So are parts for some airplanes that are worked on in Idaho.
Lawmakers expanded and added new tax exemptions during the 2012 session, adding to a growing list (exemptions start on page 41).
Lets start with the new.
Through House Bill 417, airplane parts installed into private, out-of-state planes are now tax exempt. The measure sailed through both chambers of the Legislature mostly unopposed. The stated goal of the bill is to give one particular company, Western Aircraft, a break. Continue Reading →
The Idaho Legislature put its stamp of approval on 342 bills this year, more than half of the measures introduced, according to legislative services.
As of today, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has signeda fraction of them, 182. The session ended last Thursday. That means Otter has ten days to sign or veto bills he received post-session. After that they automatically become law without his signature. The governor has five days to sign or veto if he received the bill when the Legislature was still in session.
Medicaid recipients and advocates turned out to testify at a February hearing.
A bill that cut nearly $100 million in combined state and federal Medicaid spending was a flashpoint of last year’s legislative session. This year, the question was whether the Legislature would reinstate any of that funding and, if so, how much.
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter kept mum about state health and welfare spending in his State of the State and Budget Address. Meanwhile, advocates for people with developmental disabilities and mental illness kept pushing.
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