Idahoans will have a chance to weigh in on whether the state should create its own health insurance exchange tomorrow at the Capitol.
The Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee will spend Tuesday and Thursday hearing the health insurance exchange bill written by the Governor’s administration.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter reversed course late last year and announced his support for a state-based exchange, once it became clear the federal health care law is here to stay. Now, states must decide whether to create their own online insurance marketplace, partner with the federal government, or allow the feds to build and maintain the state-specific exchanges. Continue Reading →
In Idaho, by contrast, the foreclosure process is unusually short. That’s according to RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist. He says states like Idaho — those that bottomed out quickly in the housing crisis — are the luckier ones.
“Part of the formula for quickly bottoming out was a relatively fast foreclosure process,” he observes. Continue Reading →
Requests for new sales tax exemptions have started to surface at the Legislature. The latest would exempt pregnancy resource clinics from sales tax. That means any purchase made by one of the non-profit clinics, wouldn’t be subject to Idaho’s 6 percent sales tax.
There is one catch, though. The pregnancy resource clinics must not provide abortion services. Continue Reading →
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, prominent lawmakers and Idaho’s most powerful business lobby want to phase out or eliminate Idaho’s business personal property tax. Aside from costing a total of $141 million a year, businesses complain that the tax is a nuisance. That’s in part because it’s not always obvious what kinds of office supplies, equipment, decorations and other stuff is taxable – and what isn’t.
To understand this better, let’s look at some common items you might find in one kind of Idaho business: a diner. Can you figure out which of these things are considered “personal property” for tax purposes? Take our quiz. Continue Reading →
Two studies released this week on Idaho’s workforce show state employees make less than their counterparts in neighboring states.
The Office of Performance Evaluations and the Division of Human Resources each released studies this week focused on understanding state employee pay and turnover. That’s after the Legislature requested the reports last year.
The study from the Division of Human Resources finds state worker pay is below market wages. The study says Idaho state employee wages are on average 10.7 percent lower than when compared to similar jobs in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Continue Reading →
The courthouse in Power County, one of the counties that relies most heavily on personal property tax revenue
One of the chief problems with eliminating or phasing out Idaho’s business personal property tax is that it deals a blow to local government. Taxes on real and personal property are a significant revenue source for counties. That same property tax base also supports schools, hospitals, libraries and other services through designated levies.
We’ve recently taken up some of the big questions about Idaho’s business personal property tax, like what it is, and who benefits and who loses if it goes away. Still, it’s hard to fully understand the potential county-level impacts of eliminating the tax without knowing a little bit about how county budgets work. Continue Reading →
Housing data provider RealtyTrac is out with new numbers that show Boise is one of the worst places to buy a foreclosure. That’s not a bad thing.
“Certainly from the perspective of homeowners in that market, it’s a good thing to be on that worst list,” says RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist. “Really what that means is there’s not a big backlog of foreclosure inventory that needs to be sold in that market.”
The ranking is based on a handful of factors in addition to how many foreclosures are available for sale. It looks at the discounts available on foreclosed homes, and how much local foreclosure activity increased or decreased over the last year. Continue Reading →
Three bills have been introduced in the Idaho Legislature that resurrect pieces of the education laws voters rejected last November.
Boise State Public Radio reports the Idaho School Boards Association is pushing for three new measures that deal with union bargaining.
The new bill would bring back open meetings for labor negotiations. The same bill would again allow school districts to set contract terms if negotiations with local unions were not concluded by a certain date. Continue Reading →
Two in five Idahoans who are “liquid asset poor” wouldn’t be able to pay their bills if they lost their job. The Idaho Statesmanreports on a study out today that takes a closer look at Americans’ finances.
A report released today by the Corporation for Enterprise Development says 44 percent of Idahoans are on the cusp of financial ruin.
Idaho ranks 24th in the country for the financial stability of its residents, the report said. Last year, Idaho ranked 31st. Continue Reading →
Click the image to see Gov. Otter's petition website.
A panel of Idaho senators voted unanimously to give a full hearing to legislation that would create a state-based health insurance exchange.
Gov. Otter’s chief of staff introduced the proposal to the Senate Commerce and Human Resources Committee today. It’s the first step toward creating an online insurance marketplace for Idaho.
“It’s important to understand that this RS [bill draft] is really the result of a process that began over 6 months ago in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld Obamacare,” said Otter’s chief of staff David Hensley. Continue Reading →
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