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.
The laws known as Students Come First passed the Legislature in 2011 and are now on the November ballot for repeal.
Luna’s debate partner is Brian Cronin. Cronin is a current Democratic legislator, but isn’t seeking reelection. He is now a senior vice president with Seattle-based Strategies 360, a consulting firm helping the campaign to repeal the education laws.
The event is sold out, but StateImpact will be there live-blogging the hour-long debate. Plus, you’ll be able to hear a recording of City Club on Boise State Public Radio this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m.
The Idaho Department of Labor today approved training grants for three southern Idaho businesses.
The grants total more than $567,000 and are paid for by a tax on businesses.
The Labor Department says High Desert Milk in Burley can receive up to $144,000 to train 20 new employees for operations, lab work, safety and maintenance.
Amalgamated Sugar can receive up to $406,000 to train 78 new maintenance mechanics for its Paul and Twin Falls facilities. Continue Reading →
Idaho has fewer doctors for every 100,000 people than every state in the nation except one - Mississippi.
Ever since the Association of American Medical Colleges has been compiling this info, Idaho has ranked at the bottom of the list.
Explore the data. Click around the map to see how Idaho compares to other states. Continue reading →
The governor's panel on Medicaid expansion met for the first time back in August.
Between 97,000 and 111,000 additional Idahoans would be eligible for Medicaid if the state chooses to expand eligibility. But where would those people come from? Close to half would migrate from four other state programs already in place to help low-income residents with medical needs.
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter must decide if Idaho will expand its Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act. A workgroup he assembled has been weighing the state’s options, and met for a second time Thursday in Boise.
If the state expands eligibility, about 35,000 people would migrate to Medicaid from community health centers. Another 6,000 would come from Idaho’s Catastrophic Health Program. Continue Reading →
In an effort to alleviate Idaho’s doctor shortage, the Idaho Board of Education is asking state lawmakers to approve money to pay for five additional students to attend the University of Washington’s medical school in Seattle.
Idaho, like Alaska, Montana and Wyoming, does not have its own medical school. Instead, the four states rely on a program known as WWAMI.
The program (which sounds like “whammy”) is based at the University of Washington School of Medicine. A certain number of students from each of the four states attend, paying in-state tuition instead of the more expensive out-of-state price.
Gov. Otter will decide whether Idaho will expand its Medicaid program and whether to create a state-based health insurance exchange.
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s workgroup to study a possible Medicaid expansion meets tomorrow at the State Capitol.
The Governor has to decide by early November whether he’ll expand Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults earning up to 138 percent of the poverty line. The expansion is a key element of the federal health care reform law.
“The main reasons for the Californian exodus are jobs, lower taxes and costs to employers such as utilities, the report said. Idaho was one of seven states whose right-to-work laws banning compulsory union membership have attracted some businesses, according to the Manhattan Institute, which is pro-free market. Real estate prices and regulations were among the other reasons Californians left for Idaho, the institute said.” – Idaho Statesman
Between 2000 and 2010 about 54,000 Californians moved to Idaho, according to the Statesman. The report uses federal tax data, the same data StateImpact Idaho used to map migration in and out of Idaho.
Boise State University opened its new business building this fall.
*We originally reported fall enrollment is down this year compared to last in Boise State University’s M.B.A. program, when in fact enrollment has increased from 119 full and part time students in 2011 to 139 full and part time students.
For the fourth year in a row, the number of applicants for two-year, full-time M.B.A. programs declined this fall. That’s according to an article from the Wall Street Journal.
The organization that administers the Graduate Management Admission Test, the Graduate Management Admission Council, surveyed 359 graduate business schools worldwide.
The Wall Street Journal writes:
The median number of applications world-wide fell 22 percent in 2012 for the two-year degrees, after a nearly 10 percent decline last year. For many programs, the losses are off of multiyear highs that occurred as young professionals sought refuge and new skills in Continue Reading →
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