Idaho is on its way to building and operating a state-based health insurance exchange. The Legislature signed off on the state-run online insurance marketplace last month. Now, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter has selected the 19-member board which will “set the rules and regulations for implementing” the exchange.
Here’s the list from the governor’s office: Continue Reading
Have you noticed more California drivers on Idaho's roads? Ok, maybe that's feeding an unfair stereotype, but data show more Californians surrendered their driver's license for an Idaho card than any other state last year. It's a clue into who is moving to the Gem State. We put that data on a map... Continue reading
Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact
Implementation of the federal health care law, the Affordable Care Act, means thousands of former prisoners will be eligible for medical care. Stateline reports starting early next year, many of the 650,000 inmates released each year will have access to Medicaid. Here’s an excerpt:
A sizeable portion of the nearly 5 million ex-offenders who are on parole or probation at any given time will also be covered. Continue Reading
Idaho lawmakers approved a $2.78 billion budget for fiscal year 2014 that begins in July. That’s an $81 million increase, 2.9 percent, over fiscal year 2013.
As the chart shows, nearly half of the state’s annual budget goes to fund K-12 public schools. When you include funding for colleges, universities, and “other education“, that’s more than 60 percent of Idaho’s budget.
Data Source: Legislative Services Office | Chart: Emilie Ritter Saunders
While the overall annual spending will increase 2.9 percent in fiscal year 2014, some agencies will see sharp funding declines. Continue Reading
The Division of Financial Management reports revenue collections for the month of March were 4.4 percent above predictions.
The monthly general fund monitor is a short-term indicator of the tax collections coming into the state, which are used to budget for and fund state programs.
Idaho’s General Fund increased by $138.1 million in March 2013, which is $5.8 million (4.4%) more than the forecasted $132.3 million. Continue Reading
Aaron Kunz / Boise State Public Radio
Gov. Butch Otter talked with reporters at the Associated Press legislative preview, Jan. 4, 2013.
“There’s no definite decision on not expanding Medicaid, yet.”
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter offered that equivocal statement in a press conference marking the close of the 2013 legislative session. He’s determined, he said, to find ways to inject more personal accountability into Idaho’s Medicaid system.
“We’ll get eight months and some change in order to continue to study that,” Otter said. “I will try to keep, to the extent that I can, all of the legislators in the state aware of our progress toward the first of next January.”
The federal Affordable Care Act encourages states to expand Medicaid eligibility and allow people who live at or below 138 percent of the poverty line to enroll in the entitlement program. Currently in Idaho, a single adult earns too much to qualify for Medicaid if he earns more than $205 a month. If access expands, that cut-off point would rise to just over $1,320 per month. Continue Reading
Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact
The Idaho Legislature will go home today having approved nearly $20.7 million in tax cuts. That’s a fraction, less than one percent, of the state’s general fund budget.
Far and away the largest share of that cut is the $20 million approved to offset the effect of partially repealing Idaho’s business personal property tax. The repeal means about 90 percent of Idaho companies won’t pay personal property tax on their business equipment and machinery.
Lawmakers also approved three other measures that will mean $698,900 less in the state’s main bank account. Two of those pieces of legislation, House Bill 2 and House Bill 139, make changes to the state’s tax code. The other exempts food and beverage samples from the sales tax. Continue Reading
Joe Jaszewski / Idaho Statesman
Gov. Otter advocated eliminating Idaho's business personal property tax in his State of the State address.
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter today signed a bill to partially repeal Idaho’s business personal property tax, calling it “a good and important start toward the goal of eliminating the personal property tax in Idaho.”
In his letter to the Legislature the governor urges lawmakers to take the issue up again, and do away with the tax altogether.
The tax on business equipment and machinery generates approximately $140 million annually for local government and taxing districts. The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI) has for years pushed for its full repeal, an aim Gov. Otter endorsed in his State of the State address in January. Continue Reading
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
As StateImpact reported back in October, Southwest Airlines planned to cut its direct Boise to Portland flight this spring.
As KTVB reports today, that flight cut goes into effect by mid-April.
[The Boise Airport] used to be a hub-to-hub carrier, but that is changing and evolving. Continue Reading
Lawmakers are still in Boise, where they’re grappling with the education budget past their wished-for departure date. Even with the extra time, it appears the push to expand Medicaid eligibility won’t resume this session.
That discussion so far has centered on potential costs and savings with and without expanded access for Idaho’s poor. Counterintuitively, county budgets and the state general fund could realize millions in savings if lawmakers and the governor opt to allow more people to enroll in the federal entitlement program. So, just how much savings will state leaders forgo if they delay Medicaid expansion by, say, six months? (That is, if they expand access to the program starting in the 2015 fiscal year, instead of in January 2014.)
According to consulting firm Milliman, county budgets collectively will miss out on an estimated $16.6 million in savings during that six-month period. The state general fund will pass up $6.2 million.**
Data Source: Milliman | Chart: Molly Messick
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