Emilie Ritter Saunders was StateImpact Idaho's multimedia reporter until the project merged with the Boise State Public Radio site in July 2013. She previously worked as the Capitol Bureau Chief for Montana Public Radio and was a Senior Fellow with NPR's Economic Training Project from 2009 until 2010. She graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 2007.
Job-cutting at the Idaho National Laboratory continues. The Post Registerreports more than 100 INL employees voluntarily left their jobs last week as the lab’s contractor deals with “budget constraints”.
The contractor [Battelle Energy Alliance] in charge of INL announced in December it would lay off at least 300 employees, citing budget concerns, increased daily costs and a need to remain competitive.
Most of the 110 volunteers — who had to apply — served their last day as INL employees Thursday, spokeswoman Amy Lientz said. Continue Reading →
The health insurance exchange bill will now head to the full Senate.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s health insurance exchange plan will move forward for a full vote in the Idaho Senate.
Lawmakers on the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee spent more than 90 minutes listening to a second day of public testimony and debating the proposal before voting 8-1.
The overriding theme: Idaho will be able to create and manage a more affordable and effective health insurance exchange than the federal government.
The one dissenting vote came from Sen. Branden Durst, a Democrat from Boise. Durst voiced concern over the 16-member, governor-appointed board that will oversee the online marketplace. He says there should be more legislative oversight. Continue Reading →
Idaho Republican Party chairman Barry Peterson says the GOP’s position on creating a state-based health insurance exchange is “clear and irrefutable”. In advance of this afternoon’s Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee vote on Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s health exchange proposal, the party sent this statement to media and lawmakers:
The Idaho Republican Party today reminded the Idaho State Legislature that the state’s Republicans stand opposed to the creation of a state health insurance exchange. The reminder comes as the State Senate is considering Senate Bill 1042, which would create an insurance exchange under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
22 cents of every box of Girl Scout cookies sold in Idaho goes to the state.
For cookie connoisseurs, this might be the best time of year. It’s Girl Scout cookie season. Starting next week, Idaho Girl Scouts will be canvassing neighborhoods and their parents’ offices to take orders for boxes of Thin Mints, Samoas, and all the rest.
Each box sells for $3.75, and 22 cents of that goes to the state. Idaho and Hawaii are the only two states in the country to tax the sale of Girl Scout cookies. That’s according to the Girl Scouts of Silver Sage, the council of Girl Scouts in southern Idaho, northern Nevada and eastern Oregon.
The council is behind an effort to exempt the cookies from sales tax in Idaho. All together, their Scouts in Idaho sell about $2.5 million in cookies each year, $140,000 of which goes to the state. Continue Reading →
The debate among Idaho lawmakers started in earnest today over whether the state should create its own health insurance exchange.
At its heart, the debate is an ideological one: does Idaho work within the confines of the federal health care law to establish its own exchange? Or, does Idaho continue to fight the law and reject the exchange, defaulting to a marketplace run by the federal government?
The Otter administration is pushing for the first option. Even though the governor has opposed, what he and others call Obamacare in the past, he supports creating a state-based exchange so Idaho has as much control possible over the online marketplace to purchase insurance. Continue Reading →
Idahoans will have a chance to weigh in on whether the state should create its own health insurance exchange tomorrow at the Capitol.
The Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee will spend Tuesday and Thursday hearing the health insurance exchange bill written by the Governor’s administration.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter reversed course late last year and announced his support for a state-based exchange, once it became clear the federal health care law is here to stay. Now, states must decide whether to create their own online insurance marketplace, partner with the federal government, or allow the feds to build and maintain the state-specific exchanges. Continue Reading →
Requests for new sales tax exemptions have started to surface at the Legislature. The latest would exempt pregnancy resource clinics from sales tax. That means any purchase made by one of the non-profit clinics, wouldn’t be subject to Idaho’s 6 percent sales tax.
There is one catch, though. The pregnancy resource clinics must not provide abortion services. Continue Reading →
Two studies released this week on Idaho’s workforce show state employees make less than their counterparts in neighboring states.
The Office of Performance Evaluations and the Division of Human Resources each released studies this week focused on understanding state employee pay and turnover. That’s after the Legislature requested the reports last year.
The study from the Division of Human Resources finds state worker pay is below market wages. The study says Idaho state employee wages are on average 10.7 percent lower than when compared to similar jobs in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Continue Reading →
Three bills have been introduced in the Idaho Legislature that resurrect pieces of the education laws voters rejected last November.
Boise State Public Radio reports the Idaho School Boards Association is pushing for three new measures that deal with union bargaining.
The new bill would bring back open meetings for labor negotiations. The same bill would again allow school districts to set contract terms if negotiations with local unions were not concluded by a certain date. Continue Reading →
Two in five Idahoans who are “liquid asset poor” wouldn’t be able to pay their bills if they lost their job. The Idaho Statesmanreports on a study out today that takes a closer look at Americans’ finances.
A report released today by the Corporation for Enterprise Development says 44 percent of Idahoans are on the cusp of financial ruin.
Idaho ranks 24th in the country for the financial stability of its residents, the report said. Last year, Idaho ranked 31st. Continue Reading →
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