Exploring the policies and politics that help or stand in the way of job creation.
The public will have a chance to weigh in on the state’s vacant governor’s mansion this afternoon at the State Capitol. The mansion, which hasn’t been lived in since the Simplot family donated it in 2004, made headlines earlier this year after a Democratic lawmaker said the state shouldn’t continue to pay to maintain the […]
Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna will defend his education reform laws tomorrow at the City Club of Boise luncheon. 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 […]
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. […]
The federal law that helped 30 Idaho wind projects get underway over the last four years was initially championed by an entirely different breed of business: timber companies, canal companies, and Simplot. That adds a twist to a story that is, on its face, about a dispute between the renewable energy industry and utilities, primarily […]
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 […]
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. […]
If you look at a map of where wind development has taken off in Idaho, you’ll notice an area near American Falls. There, in the rolling agricultural land of southeast Idaho, Edith Kopp stands on a high hillside. She gazes out with satisfaction at more than a dozen turbines, turning steadily. “This is a pretty […]
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare now has a $100,000 study on Idaho’s Medicaid program in its hands. The department commissioned the study in April, in preparation for the Medicaid expansion that was then required under the Affordable Care Act. In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, which made the Medicaid expansion optional […]
Wayne Hammon has been at the helm of the Division of Financial Management for the last five and a half years. As the Spokesman Review’s Eye On Boise blog reports, Hammon is resigning, effective September 28. Hammon writes in his resignation letter he’s been honored to serve as budget chief: “It is with strong emotion […]
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