To bring one of their herds in for the winter, the Isaak family lured in the cows and calves with hay, then gathered them together in a makeshift corral.
Across the U.S., the price of good quality cropland is soaring, and it’s not just farmers who are driving demand. In an unsteady economy, investors are looking to farm ground as a safe haven. Prices have been highest in the Midwest Corn Belt. Here in Idaho, demand is centered in the Snake River Plain, where farmland has reportedly sold for as much as $10,000 an acre. That’s more than double average values just a few years ago.
Governor Otter meeting with StateImpact & Boise State Public Radio on Dec. 13, 2011
January 9th is a highly anticipated day for state budget wonks and policy nerds. It’s the day Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter releases his budget proposal for the 2013 fiscal year. The governor recommended spending about $2.5 billion general fund dollars for basic services like education, health care and corrections during the current budget year, FY12. The legislature ended up spending more than $2.8 billion. (You can see the breakdown of expenditures here).
Gov. Otter didn’t want to discuss the specifics of his 2013 budget proposal in advance, but we asked him about the budgeting process and how he approaches it. Continue Reading →
Roger Madsen is Director of the Idaho Department of Labor
The Idaho Department of Labor estimates about 1,500 people would lose their weekly unemployment payment immediately if federal benefits are allowed to expire at the end of the month. Additionally, the department estimates about 300 Idahoans would drop off the federal program every week through mid-June.
Extended benefits for the long-term unemployed are tangled in the Congressional debate over the payroll tax cut. It’s not getting as much press, but if the benefits aren’t extended, it could impact thousands of Idahoans and five million Americans.
Today, the House rejected the Senate-approved plan to extend the unemployment benefits for two months, still, Congress has until December 31st to come to an agreement.
The Idaho Department of Labor has already sent out this press release, which assumes an agreement won’t happen before the year-end deadline.
The Idaho Legislature convenes January 9th. In advance of the session, we interviewed several legislative leaders and asked them about Idaho’s economy and what the state could be doing to boost growth and job creation.
Idaho Legislature / State of Idaho
Sen. Brent Hill (R-Rexburg) is Senate President Pro-Tem. Hill joined the Idaho legislature in 2001. His colleagues voted him President Pro Tempore at the start of the 2011 session. Here is our conversation:
Q: What could the state be doing to help with job creation?
A: Last year we passed the Hire One Act to incentivize employers to go out and hire employees, offering them some tax credits if they meet certain criteria. And we also had some tax exemptions and so forth to help stimulate the economy and job growth, particularly small businesses. We aren’t in the same situation as the federal government. Anything we give away in the form of tax incentives or tax breaks affect the bottom line immediately. We’re not allowed to go out and borrow money the way the federal government does. And so, we may be doing things that give us some growth in the long term, but could make us suffer more in the short term, and as you know we’ve already been suffering quite a bit. There are some ideas to possibly reduce tax rates over the long-haul, not doing it immediately, but as a phase in. By broadening the tax base, getting rid of some exemptions, credits and other things, and actually lowering the rates so that everyone benefits instead of the legislature picking and choosing who the winners are and who the losers are. I think that’s something that would be good for the whole, because it goes across the board in helping all tax payers, both individuals and corporations. Continue Reading →
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has appointed Dan Johnson (R-Lewiston) to fill the state Senate seat vacated by Joe Stegner. Stegner resigned last month to become a lobbyist for the University of Idaho.
Port of Lewiston
Dan Johnson (R-Lewiston)
Johnson is the solid waste manager for the City of Lewiston and a commissioner for the Port of Lewiston. He is 51 years old.
The governor’s office says Johnson was the first choice of three nominees. Here is the full press release:
(BOISE) – Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter today announced the appointment of Dan Johnson of Lewiston to complete the unexpired term of Joe Stegner representing Nez Perce County’s District 7 in the Idaho Senate.
Johnson, 51, is solid waste manager for the City of Lewiston and a commissioner for the Port of Lewiston. He was the first choice of three nominees whose names were submitted to the Governor by the District 7 Legislative Committee after Stegner resigned to become a lobbyist for the University of Idaho. Continue Reading →
Governor Otter meeting with Boise State Public Radio & StateImpact Idaho on Dec. 13, 2011
As we previously reported, Idaho is one of a handful of states where the number of people without jobs has increased since the official end of the recession. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has ticked down in recent months, but there are still at least 65,000 people out of work. Tens of thousands more don’t have enough work.
We recently spoke with Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter about the state of Idaho’s economy, including unemployment. This interview was done before the most recent unemployment data was released. So the numbers he mentions at the top are from October. Here are November’s.
Governor Otter believes many Idahoans who’ve been out of the workforce for one or two years lack the necessary skills to jump back into a job. Click play to watch the segment…
In our first Jobless in Idaho story, we introduced you to Justy Thomas. She’s 38 years old and graduated from Boise State University last Friday with a degree in Human Resources and Business Management. She’s unemployed. That’s why she enrolled in college four years ago. Now, she looks forward with mixed emotions. We caught up with her on graduation day, and here’s the next piece of her story. Click the play button below to view the audio slideshow.
Thomas had hoped to have a job lined up before graduation day. Since our last story, she’s had an interview with JC Penney’s manager-in-training program, but didn’t get the job. She’s also sent her resume to a handful of local companies, but hasn’t heard back.
In case you were outside playing in the snow and missed a story, we put our most-read stories of the week all in one place. Enjoy!
Here’s a look back at our most read, commented and shared stories of the week:
Jobless in Idaho: Soldiers Struggle to Translate War Experience into Work: Here’s a line most entry-level job seekers don’t have on their resume: “Operated a high-caliber machine gun, in Baghdad, Iraq.” Many of the 2,700 National Guard soldiers from the Northwest who just returned from Iraq aren’t old enough to have much of a pre-deployment work history. Now, many soldiers struggle to translate their war experience into a civilian career.  Continue Reading →
Click on the map to see interactive county-by-county data
The Idaho Department of Labor says the state’s job force is growing. Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percent in November to 8.5 percent. That’s the largest one-month decline since 1983.
Department of Labor spokesman Bob Fick says today’s news is another indicator that Idaho’s economy is beginning to pick itself off the bottom. “The appearance now, based on the activity of the last several months, is that the drop-off in jobs will be less than it had been during the recession.”
Fick says there is no doubt there are more jobs in the labor market today, due to holiday hiring, than there will be in January. But he says the test will come next month when it’s up to employers whether to hang on to those seasonal employees. “The question is whether the drop in non-farm jobs will be what it was in the last three years, or closer to what it was during the expansion years of 2002 to 2007.”
Idaho saw a more than 40 percent drop in foreclosure filings from October to November, according to numbers from RealtyTrac, released today. The report shows that one in every 770 housing units in Idaho had a foreclosure filing last month, compared to one in every 432 in October.
Idaho’s 40 percent drop in foreclosure activity is much greater than the national drop of 3 percent. The state’s foreclosure rate has fallen to 16th in the nation. In August, Idaho ranked fifth.
Mike Turner, president of Boise-based Front Street Brokers, believes there’s a clear reason Idaho’s foreclosure rate has dropped. “In Idaho, the foreclosure process is much faster and more streamlined than it is in some other states,” he said. “We’ve had our low point, I think. It was so bad here that most people threw the towel in already.”
According to a Brookings Institution report released today, the housing market began to improve across the West in the third quarter, when home prices showed improvement for the first time since the start of the recession. Still, the report says, prices in Boise remained more than 17 percent below last year’s level.
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