House Speaker Scott Bedke says he'll try to find consensus on the health insurance exchange.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter recommends Idaho build a state-based health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. In his Tuesday announcement, Otter said there will be a health insurance exchange in Idaho; the only question is who will build it. It’s important, the governor said, for Idaho to have a seat at the table.
StateImpact Idaho‘s Molly Messick talked through what this decision means with Boise State Public Radio’s Samantha Wright. To listen, click on the audio player below.
Gov. Otter and President Pro Tempore of the Idaho Senate Brent Hill spoke ahead of the 2012 session.
After years of resisting the Affordable Care Act and months of deliberating over whether Idaho should create a state-based health insurance exchange, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter on Tuesday set Idaho on that course. In a release that lambasted “Obamacare,” the governor said Idaho should build its own exchange.
Health insurance exchanges are the online marketplaces that allow consumers to assess health insurance plans based on costs and benefits. They’re a main component of the Affordable Care Act, and they’re supposed to be up and running by 2014. States have the option to build their own exchanges, partner with the federal government, or default to a federally-run model.
After a year and a half of searching for a job, Kelly Barker at last got good news.
At this time last year, StateImpact Idaho began a series called “Jobless in Idaho.” Through those interviews we met Kelly Barker, a single mom from Meridian who was struggling to find work after losing her job as an office administrator in early 2011.
The first time we met, at her comfortable, suburban home, Barker described the anxiety and self-doubt that took hold as she and her eight-year-old daughter learned to live within the bounds of unemployment benefits and their food stamp allowance. She described the questions that were keeping her up at night.
“What if my car doesn’t start?” she asked. “What if I get sick and have to go to the doctor? I don’t have that money to do it. I have enough to pay my house payment and to pay my utilities, and to put food on the table.” Continue Reading →
Gov. Otter addressed supporters on election night.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said today that he expects a difficult legislative session. He spoke at the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho’s annual conference. The session will be a hard one, Otter said, “because of the decisions we have to make.”
The governor discussed what’s ahead for state education policy, given that voters resoundingly rejected the package of laws known as Students Come First. He predicted that elements of the failed laws will come back for consideration in 2013.
Gov. Otter also touched on the health insurance exchange and Medicaid expansion decisions that the state now faces, as well as the issue of personal property taxes. “I understand the plight of the counties,” the governor said, while indicating that he supports efforts to cut or phase out the tax. Some local taxing districts rely heavily on personal property tax revenue.  Continue Reading →
Blue Cross of Idaho's "Blue Hat" campaign is the company's first-ever effort to build brand awareness among individual consumers.
The federal health care law often called Obamacare is moving steadily forward, despite pushback in conservative states like Idaho. In addition to everything else, the law means big changes for the individual insurance market. As of 2014, millions more people will be shopping for health insurance for themselves and their families. And insurers are already jockeying for that new business.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna held a roundtable meeting with Idaho media yesterday. It was the first time Luna had spoken publicly since voters rejected the Students Come First laws.
An informal poll of voters who cast their ballots here, at Boise's Longfellow Elementary, showed strong opposition to the package of education laws known as Students Come First.
Idaho voters delivered a ringing defeat of Propositions 1, 2 and 3 Tuesday, rejecting the three-part education overhaul backed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, and approved by the Legislature in 2011.
The most resounding “No” came on Proposition 3, which addressed online education and technology in schools. Voters rejected it by a two-to-one margin. It’s worth asking: Why was that measure so overwhelmingly unpopular? Continue Reading →
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and Gov. Butch Otter at Tuesday's announcement. Meridian School Superintendent Linda Clark and Hewlett-Packard Vice President Von Hansen are also pictured.
There are the limits the laws impose on teachers’ unions, and the potential effects on teachers’ job security.
Now there’s something more to consider: local tech jobs. This week Hewlett-Packard won a $180 million contract to provide computers, maintenance and technical support to every high school student and teacher in Idaho.
To hear StateImpact‘s story about what this agreement means for HP, click on the audio player below.
State Sen. Nicole LeFavour talks with volunteers at Polo's Restaurant in Burley, Idaho.
Burley, Idaho is farm country. About 10,000 people live in the eastern Idaho town, that for many is just a stop off I-84 to gas up.
This is Republican Congressman Mike Simpson’s home turf. He was born in here. But now, Boise Democrat Nicole LeFavour is making one of the most serious runs at his seat in recent history.
On a late October evening, state Senator LeFavour gathered a group of volunteers to canvass the neighborhoods near downtown Burley.
Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District covers about 40,000 square miles of southern and eastern Idaho. It includes all of Boise, and everything along I-84 to the Montana border. For almost 15 years, Republican Mike Simpson has represented the district.
LeFavour’s field campaign manager Tom Hamilton shows a handful of volunteers how to work an iPhone app that identifies which doors to knock on. Continue Reading →
Betty Murphy staffed the Democratic office in downtown Hailey last week.
Helen Stone and Ben Schepps of Hailey watched Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan face off.
Blaine County Democrats register voters and distribute signs and literature from their small office in Hailey.
Suzan Stommel is a co-founder of Blaine County Republican Women.
Vonnie Olsen has called the small Blaine County town of Carey home for nearly 50 years.
There aren’t many places in deep red Idaho where you’re likely to hear the kind of proud introduction Gini Ballou offered up not long after we met.
“I’m Gini Ballou,” she said. “My mother stopped to vote for John F. Kennedy on her way to the hospital to have me. And the greatest gift I ever got for my birthday was the ’08 election, when I was given President Obama on my birthday.”
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