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.
An office assistant, balancing on a stepladder to reach the top drawer of a filing cabinet
This morning, StateImpact published a report on the pay gap between men and women who work for the State of Idaho. Molly Messick joined Boise State Public Radio’s Morning Edition host Scott Graf to talk through the findings.
Q: First off, tell us a little about why you decided to look into this issue of pay equity in Idaho state government.
A: Sure. Every so often, we see reports that compare the earnings of men and women nationally and by state. In those reports, Idaho often falls at the bottom of the list in terms of the amount female workers earn compared to male workers. In September, a report based on Census data showed that women working full-time in Idaho earn about 75 cents on the dollar earned by men working full-time. Continue Reading →
Year after year, Idaho gets slapped with an unwelcome designation: It’s one of the states where women earn the least compared to men.
A recent study of the “gender wage gap” came from the National Women’s Law Center, and found the typical woman worker in Idaho earns 75.2 cents for every dollar earned by her male counterpart.
The gender wage gap has also been an issue at the top levels of state government. Last March, the Idaho Statesman found that women in Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s cabinet earned an average of $17,000 less than their male peers.  Following the firing of state transportation chief Pam Lowe in 2009, it was widely noted that the man who replaced her had a starting salary that was $22,000 higher. Continue Reading →
Ammunition designed and manufactured by PNW Arms, a company that relocated from the Seattle suburbs to Potlatch, Idaho in 2011.
The Idaho Department of Commerce and 24 Idaho businesses are attending the Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show and Conference taking place in Las Vegas through Friday.
The trade show is billed as “the largest and most comprehensive trade show for all professionals involved with the shooting sports, hunting and law enforcement industries.” It’s owned and sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade association based in Newtown, Conn.
The Idaho Department of Commerce began an effort to recruitrecreation technology companies to the state in 2008. As we’ve reported elsewhere, the term “recreation technology” is intentionally broad — Commerce Director Jeff Sayer says it encompasses “anything under a Cabela’s roof” — but, notably, it includes the gun industry. Continue Reading →
JFAC co-chairs Dean Cameron (R-Rupert) and Maxine Bell (R-Jerome).
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare estimates that 70,340 people will join Idaho’s Medicaid rolls next year, department chief Richard Armstrong told the Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee today.
This isn’t news to people who have watched Idaho wrestle with the Affordable Care Act; a November report from independent consulting group Milliman projected the enrollment growth. However, it’s not something we have detailed here on the StateImpact site.
Half of those 70,000 people are currently eligible for Medicaid, but not enrolled. They’re what’s referred to as the “woodwork group,” as in “the group that will come out of the woodwork” once the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate goes into effect in 2014. Continue Reading →
A lock hangs from the front door of a foreclosed home.
Idaho’s housing market underwent a dramatic turnaround in 2012. The state’s foreclosure rate began to come down. Single family homes began to make up some of their staggering loss in value. Now, Boise is showing stronger signs of recovery than most metro areas, according to the Brookings Institution.
But 2011 — when Idaho posted one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation — is not yet a distant memory. That’s part of why we’ve kept a close eye on this week’s news of an $8.5 billion foreclosure settlement between banks and federal regulators. Continue Reading →
All Albertsons stores will again be under the same ownership. That’s one effect of a $3.3 billion deal announced Thursday between private investment company Cerberus Capital Management and grocery chain Supervalu.
Albertsons, the grocery chain founded in Boise in the 1930s, put itself up for sale nearly a decade ago. The company was split up. A group of investors formed Albertson’s LLC and bought the company’s underperforming stores. Minnesota-based Supervalu purchased the rest. Continue Reading →
Instead, he has asked Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Richard Armstrong to develop an Idaho-specific plan.
As StateImpactreported yesterday, Armstrong says the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will have to sign off on any effort by the state to build cost-sharing and accountability mechanisms into its plan. On this point, there’s a great deal of uncertainty. Continue Reading →
Dr. Ted Epperly is the Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said in Monday’s State of the State address that he doesn’t believe Idaho should expand Medicaid eligibility. “There is broad agreement that the existing Medicaid program is broken,” he said.
That wasn’t all the governor had to say on the issue. He mentioned a new responsibility for Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Richard Armstrong. “I’m asking Director Armstrong to lead an effort to flesh out a plan for changing Idaho’s system with an eye toward the potential costs, savings and economic impact,” he said. “I hope to return in 2014 with specific proposals based on that work.”
That left a few people, this reporter included, scratching their heads. What does that mean, exactly? Continue Reading →
Gov. Otter delivered his State of the State and Budget Address this afternoon.
Today, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter told lawmakers and the public that he wants to repeal the state’s tax on business personal property, which generates roughly $140 million for local government each year. He also said he does not support an expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Idaho, at least not at this time. StateImpact talked through those two significant policy points with Boise State Public Radio host Samantha Wright.
Sen. Dean Cameron is a Republican from Rupert, Idaho. He represents Minidoka and Cassia Counties, and has been in the Legislature for nearly 25 years. He’s the co-chairman of the panel that crafts Idaho’s annual budget, the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.
StateImpact met with Cameron last month to hear his views on key issues including education funding and the personal property tax.
Q: One of the big issues this session, it seems, is going to be the personal property tax. Do you think the state should get rid of it, or begin to phase it out? Continue Reading →
About StateImpact
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
