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.
Six F-15C Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagles fly over the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho.
As federal lawmakers debate how to avoid falling off the looming fiscal cliff, a report commissioned for the Aerospace Industries Association shows Idaho could lose 10,411 defense-related jobs. The U.S. could face job losses totaling two million, according to the report.
Automatic budget cuts are scheduled to go into effect in January, unless lawmakers come up with a new plan.
We spoke with Stephen Berry back in March as he was searching for a job.
A report by the conservative-leaning Idaho Freedom Foundation concludes Idaho teens have fewer job opportunities because the state’s minimum wage has increased by $2.10 since 2007.
“There may well be multiple reasons why unemployment has risen so quickly among teens, but the one that cannot be overlooked is the rapid increase of the minimum wage. Between 2007 and 2009 the federal minimum wage increased from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. This represented a 41 percent increase during a period that included the beginning of a major economic downturn. It is unsurprising that such a dramatic increase in the baseline cost of labor led to an equally dramatic decline in the demand for it. Recent research and analysis have found that in 2011 over 2,000 additional Idaho teens would have been employed if the minimum wage had not been increased.” – Idaho Freedom Foundation
Chelsea Schulz started her college path to become a teacher, now she’s preparing for her job as a mechanic tech with Western States Equipment.
Part of the class works on a project together.
CAT Academy student Bobby Bailey gets instructions from Miller.
CAT Academy student Bobby Bailey works on a class project.
Toby Miller has worked at Western States for 18 years. He was raised on a ranch near Boise.
A group of CAT Academy students work on a welding project.
Eleven students will complete the summer session of Western States’ training program. Thirty one people have completed it in the last year.
Toby Miller and Quintin Edwards watch students wrap up a classroom demo.
Quintin Edwards was laid off from his construction job in 2009. He plans to work in Western States’ shop near Coeur d’Alene
Even with thousands of Idahoans out of work, one Boise-based company can’t find enough employees. Western States Equipment needs mechanic techs, jobs that by definition fall into the middle-skills category.
About half of all Idaho jobs fall into this group: jobs like mechanics, welders, police officers, or air traffic controllers. These are jobs where you need more than a high school diploma, but less than a college degree.
According to the National Skills Coalition, not quite half of Idaho’s workers are trained for these jobs. While many Idaho schools are ramping up efforts to train workers, the pipeline isn’t full yet, so one Idaho business has taken training into its own hands. Continue Reading →
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has created two groups to study Idaho’s health care options under the federal Affordable Care Act.
As some Republican governor’s across the U.S. are rejecting key components of President Obama’s health care law, Gov. Otter has said Idaho’s best bet is to carefully examine expanding Medicaid and creating a health insurance exchange.
The governor’s office announced 26 public and private stakeholders to work on the issue. The group tasked with studying a Medicaid expansion will be lead by Idaho Department of Health and Welfare director Dick Armstrong. The second group, which will evaluate a health insurance exchange will be lead by Idaho Department of Insurance director Bill Deal.
Idaho’s fiscal year-end tax revenue report, which came out today, shows collections exceeded forecasts by $35 million or 1.4 percent.
The Division of Financial Management says sales tax and corporate income tax collections were 7.2 percent higher than expected. Miscellaneous receipts exceeded its forecast by 24.2 percent.
The piece of Idaho’s revenue stream that didn’t perform as expected was individual income taxes. Collections were about $13 million under forecast, which DFM says is because of higher-than-anticipated tax returns. Continue Reading →
House leader Ken Roberts (R-Donnelly) has been appointed to be the fourth member of the state Tax Commission. The commission oversees state revenue collections and tax laws.
Here’s the press release from the governor’s office:
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter announced the appointment today of Ken Roberts, Republican Caucus chairman in the Idaho House of Representatives, to the four-member Idaho State Tax Commission. He fills a vacancy left by the February resignation of Bob Geddes, the former president pro tem of the Idaho Senate who stepped down from the Tax Commission to return to work for his previous employer, Monsanto. 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 →
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.
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