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September 12, 2012

Fewer Workers Covered By Longstanding Health Insurance Plans As Law Takes Effect

If you have trouble getting jazzed about health care policy, consider this: “Between 1999 and 2012, workers’ health care costs grew four times faster than their earnings,” The Atlantic reports. The data is drawn from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s annual Employer Health Benefits survey, released this week. The survey also includes information about how employers […]

September 11, 2012

Any Way You Slice It, Idaho Education Spending Cuts Are Near The Top

The Idaho Statesman’s latest editorial is in response to two stories StateImpact posted on Idaho’s education funding cuts. The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities released a report last week that shows education cuts in Idaho have been among the deepest in the nation over the last five years. CBPP’s report finds per-student spending in Idaho […]

September 10, 2012

Idaho Education Department Disputes Funding Cuts Are Near The Top In The Nation

A recent report by the non-partisan research organization Center on Budget Policy and Priorities says education cuts in Idaho have been among the deepest in the nation over the last five years. As StateImpact reported last week, CBPP’s study shows per-student spending in Idaho has dropped 19 percent since 2008. Just three states have cut […]

September 6, 2012

Idaho Education Cuts Among Deepest In The Nation

Idaho has cut per-student education spending by 19 percent in the last five years. That’s according to a report published this week by the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities. Idaho schools have seen the fourth-largest cut among states since 2008, ranking behind Arizona, Alabama and Oklahoma. The report points out education funding cuts have […]

September 4, 2012

Idaho’s DNC Delegates Include State Lawmakers, Tribal Leaders, Activists

Idaho’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention have wended their ways to Charlotte, N.C., where the convention gets underway today. The delegate list includes prominent party members like Sen. Edgar Malepeai, from Pocatello, and Boise Mayor David Bieter, as well as a retired mailman, a teacher, an electrician, and the president of Idaho Young Democrats, […]

August 31, 2012

Idaho Labor Department OKs $325,000 In Training Grants

The Idaho Department of Labor today approved $325,000 in worker training grants for two Boise-based companies. Locomotive maker MotivePower Inc. is eligible to receive $288,000 and iVinci Health, a hospital software company can get up to $38,000. Workforce Development Training grants are reimbursements to companies that need to train new employees, existing employees or employees […]

August 30, 2012

Idaho Health Exchange Group Hears From Prominent Foes Of The Federal Health Care Law

The work group Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter appointed to study whether Idaho should create a state-run health insurance exchange heard from two organizations that have long opposed President Obama’s health care law. Policy analysts from the Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute and the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC spoke with panel members Wednesday about why […]

August 29, 2012

Cato And ALEC Reps To Speak At Health Exchange Meeting

The governor’s group to study whether Idaho should have a health insurance exchange meets for the second time today. Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter created two work groups following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Obama’s health care law. Otter must decide whether Idaho should set up an online marketplace for people to purchase […]

Idaho Aims For Job Growth Through Gun Manufacturing

Molly Messick / StateImpact Idaho BJ Swanson is executive director of the Latah Economic Development Council. Click above for an interactive map of all gun and ammunition manufacturers in Idaho. A few years ago, state leaders got the idea to promote Idaho to the outdoor industry, including gun manufacturers. After all, Idaho is a more […]

August 27, 2012

Commerce Director Says His Bankruptcy Was “On The Table” In Hiring Discussion

Idaho Commerce Department Director Jeff Sayer filed for personal bankruptcy in 2003, less than a decade before Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter appointed him to his current job. That’s according to an Idaho Statesman report this weekend. Director Sayer’s bankruptcy was not public knowledge ahead of his appointment last fall, but it was known to Gov. […]

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