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.
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The Idaho Department of Labor says the state’s job force is growing. Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percent in November to 8.5 percent. That’s the largest one-month decline since 1983.
Department of Labor spokesman Bob Fick says today’s news is another indicator that Idaho’s economy is beginning to pick itself off the bottom. “The appearance now, based on the activity of the last several months, is that the drop-off in jobs will be less than it had been during the recession.”
Fick says there is no doubt there are more jobs in the labor market today, due to holiday hiring, than there will be in January. But he says the test will come next month when it’s up to employers whether to hang on to those seasonal employees. “The question is whether the drop in non-farm jobs will be what it was in the last three years, or closer to what it was during the expansion years of 2002 to 2007.”
Allen Brown is a single father with three teenage daughters. He's been out of work since October, 2011.
Name: Allen Brown
Age: 44
Unemployed Since: October 2011
“Every day I go out and look for a job, come back in and look at my answering machine, see if it’s flashing, see if I’ve gotten a call – but as of yet, I haven’t.”
The Idaho Department of Labor estimates nearly 70,000 people in the state don’t have jobs. That doesn’t include thousands more who are underemployed or have stopped looking for work. This is the latest story in our “Jobless in Idaho” series, that follows several Idahoans in their search for work.
When the Clearwater Paper sawmill announced it was selling its Lewiston mill to the Idaho Forest Group back in October, the fate of 250 mill jobs was unclear. For many, it still is, even as the mill gets ready to re-open next week. For one of those laid-off workers, the upcoming holidays are just a reminder of that uncertainty.
The Associated Press and Boise Weekly are reporting a federal judge has ordered Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for businesses providing residential care to developmentally disabled residents.
The ruling could cost the state $4 million.
U.S. District Court
U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill made the ruling Monday. The decision came after five residential habilitation companies sued the state in 2009, contending the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare was using reimbursement rates calculated in 2006, even though the department’s own subsequent studies showed that the cost of providing services had increased considerably.
According to the lawsuit, the 2006 daily rate for one type of service was $268 – compared to the daily rate of $496 suggested by the department’s study. But lawmakers failed to give the department funding for the increase. – AP
As we reported yesterday, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter says plans for Areva’s Idaho uranium enrichment facility are moving forward.
But the CEO of the French energy company announced Tuesday its uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls is on hold.
“The assurances that I got from the folks over there when I called them, said that’s not the case, that the headline is totally misleading,” Otter says. “The enrichment project is going forward…in fact it’s fully funded through 2012.”
Here’s Governor Otter’s reaction:
The Associated Press reports the vice president of communications for Areva North America, Laurence Pernot, said the announcement should not be interpreted as a decision to abandon future plans in Idaho.
“With a growing market in the United States … this remains a very solid and robust project and we stay committed to it,” Pernot said. “This may impact the construction schedule. But we will continue to work this year on design and pre-construction activities.”
The company has already bought the land and invested significant resources in hopes of beginning construction in early 2012 and to be up and running by 2014. Company officials and economists projected the construction would create several thousand jobs, 700 permanent jobs during operation and join the Idaho National Laboratory as one of the primary drivers of the eastern Idaho economy.
Idaho Governor Butch Otter says mid-day headlines (here, here and here) about Areva suspending its Idaho uranium enrichment plant aren’t true.
“The assurances that I got from the folks over there when I called them, said that’s not the case, that the headline is totally misleading,” Otter says. “The enrichment project is going forward…in fact it’s fully funded through 2012.”
But the CEO of the French energy company announced this morning its uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls is on hold. The press release doesn’t mention Idaho’s Eagle Rock facility, but this slide show presentation does, specifically slide 45:
Slide #45 from Areva's Strategic Action Plan
Areva CEO Luc Oursel says the company has been hit by financial problems that will affect the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility and others worldwide. But Areva officials in the U.S. say something different. Continue Reading →
We’ve been asking policy makers, news media and special interest groups, “Who are the Idaho legislators with the most influence?” The list we came up with isn’t especially scientific. But by and large, these names came up repeatedly. That’s not surprising because each lawmaker who made our list is either a party leader or chairperson of a critical economic policy committee.
Brent Hill (R-Rexburg), Senate President Pro-Tem:
Brent Hill / Flickr
Senator Brent Hill joined the Idaho legislature in 2001. His colleagues voted him President Pro Tempore at the start of the 2011 session. It’s the Pro-Tem’s job to set the daily schedule of hearing bills on the Senate floor and to assign bills to committee. The Pro-Tem and the Speaker of the House are the two people who can single-handedly control the discussion and debate at the legislature. Continue Reading →
The 2012 Idaho Legislative Session kicks off Jan. 9th
Write, call or email your lawmaker: If you’re unable to attend a committee hearing or travel to the Capitol to meet with your legislator, sending a note or leaving a message can be the next best way to participate. The legislature’s website lists contact information for all 105 lawmakers. If you aren’t sure who your lawmaker is, the site can help you with that too.
Testify at a committee hearing: Every piece of legislation starts in a specific committee. Committees are bipartisan panels of lawmakers who get the first crack at reading a bill, asking questions about it, and hearing from the people it will most directly affect. It’s in committee meetings that members of the public can offer testimony and tell their story directly to legislators. The legislature’s website outlines best practices for testifying at a committee hearing. Continue Reading →
Here’s a look back at the five most commented, clicked and viewed stories of the week. In case you missed something, we put them all in one handy place:
Six Months In, Evaluating the Effects of a Medicaid Cut: Idaho’s Medicaid program is dealing with a $100 million cut. The economic and personal reverberations are more difficult to tally, but they include job loss and a change in quality of life for some of Idaho’s most vulnerable residents. “It’s inhumane to watch what’s happening to people with disabilities in our state,” said Christine Pisani, program specialist with the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities.
As we reported earlier today, the Division of Financial Management released its monthly state revenue report, which shows November tax collections didn’t meet expectations. Collections were $5.4 million below DFM’s monthly forecast.
State of Idaho
Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter
In advance of this news, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter sent this letter to his Cabinet, warning any projected budget surplus isn’t likely.
“Unfortunately, actual revenues once again are significantly lower than projections. For November, collections were $5.4 million short of the projection, for a cumulative year-to-date shortfall of $16.2 million. In addition, even the lower-than-projected November figure was bolstered by one-time funds from the unclaimed property account. Without this unanticipated $5.8 million, the year-to-date shortfall would be about $22 million and all five categories of General Fund revenue would have been negative for the month.” – Governor Otter
It’s important to note the state is not currently facing a $16.2 million shortfall, as reported here. The legislature’s chief budget analyst, Cathy Holland-Smith, says that $16.2 million figure is the difference between DFM’s year-to-date revenue projection and actual money in the bank. The state won’t know if its finances are in the red or the black until end of the fiscal year (June 2012).
The Division of Financial Management today reported Idaho’s main bank account was $5.4 million below November’s forecast. DFM attributes the monthly shortage to weak individual income taxes and sales taxes. Idaho’s sales tax collections have missed projected targets every month this fiscal year.
“This month’s performance not only missed its forecast, but it was 4.1% lower than it was in November 2010. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, the sales tax trails its forecast by $18.9 million. This category’s recent string of sub-par showings has raised concerns whether the sales tax will be able to recover enough to meet its targets during the important holiday shopping season.”
“November is traditionally a month of large corporate income tax refunds, but actual payouts were even larger than expected—$5.0 million instead of $4.6 million. But refunds were not the sole reason for the corporate income tax’s negative showing in November. Filing collections were about $0.6 million below its forecast, $1.9 million versus $2.4 million. Adding to this month’s shortfall was the nearly $0.1-million gap between actual and forecasted estimated payments. Despite this month’s retreat, the fiscal year-to-date corporate income tax exceeds its forecast by $1.5 million.”
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