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August 24, 2012

Idaho Elected Officials, Multimillionaire Romney Backer VanderSloot Head To RNC

Many prominent Idaho Republicans are packing their bags and heading to Tampa for the 2012 Republican National Convention. The list of Idaho delegates includes Gov. C.L. “Butch” and Lori Otter, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, and multimillionaire Romney backers Frank and Belinda VanderSloot. The full list is available here.

August 22, 2012

Idaho National Guard Activation For Wildfire Support Comes At A Cost

*StateImpact received new information this afternoon from the Idaho National Guard that the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost to activate Idaho soldiers and airmen for support on the Trinity Ridge fire. The federal government typically shares this cost with the state, but in this case, the federal government requested Gov. Otter […]

August 21, 2012

Idaho Sends First Group Of Inmates To Colorado

The Idaho Department of Correction flew 130 prisoners to Colorado this morning in an effort to relieve crowding as Idaho’s inmate population goes up. “We know how hard this is on the inmates’ families but the fact is we’re running out of room,” Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke says in a press release. […]

Informal Poll Shows Idahoans Want Medicaid Expansion, State-Run Insurance Exchange

The results are in on an informal Medicaid and insurance exchange poll by St. Luke’s CEO. As StateImpact reported last week, Dr. David Pate wanted to hear his blog readers’ thoughts about whether Idaho should expand Medicaid eligibility and create a state-run health insurance exchange. Both are fundamental pieces of President Obama’s health care law […]

August 20, 2012

$4 Million In Federal Transportation Money Is Coming To Idaho

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will be in Idaho Wednesday, days after the Obama administration announced plans to send unspent transportation dollars to states. As The Associated Press reported Friday, $470 million will be made available to states for infrastructure projects as long as states “promise to use the money to create jobs and improve […]

August 16, 2012

Nampa Schools Dug A $2.8 Million Hole. Are State Budget Cuts To Blame?

The Nampa School District has discovered a budget problem. Last school year, due to an accounting error, it spent $2.8 million it didn’t have. Boise State Public Radio’s Adam Cotterell has the full story. The given reason for the error is worth special note at StateImpact. Superintendent Gary Larson tells Cotterell the miscalculation came about […]

August 13, 2012

Why Idaho’s Lowered Revenue Forecast Is A Solid Economic Indicator

If fewer Idahoans have jobs, that means the state doesn’t collect as much revenue. That in turn can determine how much money is available for schools, road repair and health services. So we took notice last week when the governor’s budget office revised down its estimate of revenue coming into the state’s bank accounts. The […]

August 8, 2012

Chobani Receives Bulk Of New Worker Training Grant Money

The Idaho Department of Labor has approved another round of workforce development training grants for eight companies, totaling $4.8 million dollars. The biggest chunk of that goes to three businesses, Chobani, Central Garden and Pet, and ATK. New York-based Greek yogurt maker Chobani is currently building its Twin Falls, Idaho manufacturing facility. It’s already started […]

August 7, 2012

Supporters Of Idaho Medicaid Expansion Speak Out, But Costs Remain A Big Question

More than 236,000 Idahoans are currently enrolled in Medicaid. That’s the federal-state funded health care program for low-income adults and children. If the state chooses to expand eligibility in Idaho to 138 percent of poverty, 100,000 people could join the rolls. Utah-based consulting firm Leavitt Partners presented that data to Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter’s […]

August 6, 2012

Medicaid Expansion Could Add 100,000 To Idaho Rolls

The first meeting of Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s Medicaid expansion working group is underway. The group is charged with providing input to the governor as he weighs whether the state should expand its Medicaid program, as prescribed under President Obama’s health care law. The biggest news out of today’s meeting so far: an additional 90,000 […]

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