Molly Messick was StateImpact Idaho's broadcast reporter until May 2013. Prior to joining StateImpact and Boise State Public Radio, she was a reporter and host for Wyoming Public Radio. She is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
This evening at the Statehouse, the Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee (EORAC) meets to discuss an important number: its revenue forecast. Just as the governor bases his budget on a revenue estimate, so does the Idaho Legislature. Both numbers are critical, because they dictate the spending levels that lawmakers will settle on over the course of the session.
Yesterday, StateImpact‘s Emilie Ritter Saunders described the ins and outs (and the peculiarities) of EORAC’s forecasting process. Today, a bit of background. The Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee didn’t always go about its job the way it does today. In fact, prior to 1994, the committee didn’t exist at all. Instead, there was the Revenue Projections Committee. According to Mike Ferguson, Director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, that committee had a rigorous process for arriving at its own revenue projection. They held hearings and met with business leaders. “They literally went in and debated the specific revenue sources and the estimates they’d heard and likely revenues,” he said. Continue Reading →
Mike Ferguson is the Director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy.
The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy unveiled its website today. The center describes itself as a “non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing our state’s citizens and elected officials with fact-based information and analysis to help make informed policy decisions.” Director Mike Ferguson, who served as Idaho’s chief economist for more than 25 years, says the website will be a resource for policymakers and the public as they work to understand Idaho’s budget and tax system.
The site will provide data and analysis through its own reports and by cataloging relevant work from other sources. One of the center’s early projects will be to compile a history of public finance in Idaho dating back to World War II. The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy is part of the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative, coordinated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In the Boise area, the number of homes on the market fell by nearly 40 percent between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011.
One indicator of an improving housing market is declining inventory, and Idaho appears to be faring well on that score. According to analysis by Realtor.com, Boise’s number of total listings fell by just over 39 percent from the end of 2010 until the end of 2011. That’s greater than the national decrease of just over 22 percent.
Fewer homes for sale should lead to rising prices, and so far that logic is borne out in the local market. The median list price in Boise grew by more than 19 percent over the last year. That’s compared to 5 percent growth nationally. Continue Reading →
Medicaid recipient Krystal Esterline and her guardian Nikki Tangen spoke at today's Medicaid roundtable.
Medicaid recipients, their advocates and service providers want to drive home the point that cuts to the program have real effects for individuals and communities. At a roundtable discussion this morning they called for a restoration of services that have been reduced in recent years.
At the heart of the broad-ranging discussion was an individual story. Twenty-two-year-old Medicaid recipient Krystal Esterline talked about the effects of recent service cuts in her own life. A year ago, she was forced to choose between one service that assists her with depression and anxiety, and another that helps her cope with developmental disabilities. When she stopped receiving what’s known as psychosocial rehabilitation, she says, things changed. “Life just went pretty much downhill,” she said. “I was on a good path when I had my services, and when I lost part of them, I just wasn’t able to cope.”
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter gave his address from the floor of the Idaho Senate.
One of the most prominent issues last legislative session was a nearly $100 million cut in combined state and federal Medicaid funding. For many observing Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s State of the State and Budget Address last week, reinstated support for Medicaid was a key omission. Restoring funding to health and human services programs that have undergone deep cuts over the last four years did not make the governor’s list of budget priorities.
“It sends a pretty clear message to people who rely on Medicaid,” said Katherine Hansen, Executive Director of Community Partnerships of Idaho, Inc., a Medicaid service provider. “It sends a clear message that people with disabilities are not as valued.” Continue Reading →
Cooke says Idaho has seen growth in low-wage call center jobs, and losses in high-paying electronics manufacturing positions.
A new Pew Research Center report on public perception of the growing gap between America’s rich and poor has been widely discussed in the last week. Retired University of Idaho economist Stephen Cooke focuses on a different kind of wage gap. Idaho jobs pay considerably less than the U.S. average — nearly $11,000 less in 2009. In a recent study, Cooke and co-author Bharathkumar Kulandaismy began with a simple question: why?
It’s a complicated question to answer, but Cooke and Kulandaismy’s study comes to straightforward conclusions. “We have above average growth in low-wage jobs, and we are losing high-wage jobs,” Cooke said. “And the high-wage jobs that we do have pay less than high-wage jobs elsewhere.” All of that adds up to bad news for the state. “It’s possible to get stuck in a low-skill, low-wage trap,” Cooke said. “I think Idaho is in that trap, and once you get on the low-wage road, it’s hard to get on the high-wage road.” Continue Reading →
Click the map above to view RealtyTrac's county-by-county December foreclosure data.
Real estate data provider RealtyTrac has released its year-end report, and the news is mixed. The numbers show Idaho’s foreclosure rate dropped to tenth in the nation, an improvement from last year’s eighth place ranking. The total number of housing units with at least one foreclosure filing over the course of 2011 was 11,482, a nearly 40 percent reduction from last year. Nationally, the number of foreclosure filings decreased by 34 percent from 2010 to 2011.
RealtyTrac’s analysts caution that what looks like improvement may not be. They say the ongoing legal issues stemming from the robo-signing scandal have slowed down the foreclosure process, and they predict greater foreclosure activity this year than last.
Nationwide, December’s foreclosure activity was the lowest in four years. One out of every 796 housing units in Idaho received a foreclosure filing last month, according to RealtyTrac’s count.
This foreclosed home in the Boise suburbs was put up for sale in September.
Boise’s housing market gains a bit of unwelcome and retroactive notoriety, thanks to a New York Timesarticle published this week. Using newly released Fed transcripts, the article details Federal Reserve officials’ apparent lack of concern about the housing bubble and its potential effects on the broader economy, even as the housing market showed signs of weakness.
As an example, the piece gives this account of former Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen relaying information from her region:
One builder she spoke with, she said, “toured some new subdivisions on the outskirts of Boise and discovered that the houses, most of which are unoccupied, are now being dressed up to look occupied — with curtains, things in the driveway, and so forth — so as not to discourage potential buyers.” — The New York Times
Rep. John Rusche (D-Lewiston) wants to see Idaho establish its own health insurance exchange.
Under the federal health care law, states are charged with deciding whether to establish their own health insurance exchanges. Those exchanges are often described as transparent marketplaces where people will be able to purchase health insurance. States including Utah and Nevada have already established their own exchanges. In Idaho, lawmakers will come to a verdict this session. As they prepare for the debate, advocates of a state-based exchange say local jobs are at stake.
Kaiser State Health Facts / Kaiser Family Foundation
Click the map to get more information
It’s shaping up to be one of the main debates of the legislative session: whether Idaho will create its own health insurance exchange or reject more than $20 million in federal grant money, leaving the federal government to craft an exchange. Health insurance exchanges are a critical component of the Affordable Care Act. They’re often termed “marketplaces” because their primary function will be to allow consumers to compare health insurance options based on price and coverage.
According to this map from Kaiser State Health Facts, Idaho is one of 22 states considering its options with respect to establishing an exchange. Continue Reading →
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