As we reported earlier today, the Division of Financial Management released its monthly state revenue report, which shows November tax collections didn’t meet expectations. Collections were $5.4 million below DFM’s monthly forecast.
State of Idaho
Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter
In advance of this news, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter sent this letter to his Cabinet, warning any projected budget surplus isn’t likely.
“Unfortunately, actual revenues once again are significantly lower than projections. For November, collections were $5.4 million short of the projection, for a cumulative year-to-date shortfall of $16.2 million. In addition, even the lower-than-projected November figure was bolstered by one-time funds from the unclaimed property account. Without this unanticipated $5.8 million, the year-to-date shortfall would be about $22 million and all five categories of General Fund revenue would have been negative for the month.” – Governor Otter
It’s important to note the state is not currently facing a $16.2 million shortfall, as reported here. The legislature’s chief budget analyst, Cathy Holland-Smith, says that $16.2 million figure is the difference between DFM’s year-to-date revenue projection and actual money in the bank. The state won’t know if its finances are in the red or the black until end of the fiscal year (June 2012).
The Division of Financial Management today reported Idaho’s main bank account was $5.4 million below November’s forecast. DFM attributes the monthly shortage to weak individual income taxes and sales taxes. Idaho’s sales tax collections have missed projected targets every month this fiscal year.
“This month’s performance not only missed its forecast, but it was 4.1% lower than it was in November 2010. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, the sales tax trails its forecast by $18.9 million. This category’s recent string of sub-par showings has raised concerns whether the sales tax will be able to recover enough to meet its targets during the important holiday shopping season.”
“November is traditionally a month of large corporate income tax refunds, but actual payouts were even larger than expected—$5.0 million instead of $4.6 million. But refunds were not the sole reason for the corporate income tax’s negative showing in November. Filing collections were about $0.6 million below its forecast, $1.9 million versus $2.4 million. Adding to this month’s shortfall was the nearly $0.1-million gap between actual and forecasted estimated payments. Despite this month’s retreat, the fiscal year-to-date corporate income tax exceeds its forecast by $1.5 million.”
It’s relatively simple to describe the Medicaid cut approved by the Idaho Legislature early this year. State leaders made about $35 million in targeted cuts. That meant fewer federal matching dollars, and a total funding loss of nearly $100 million to the state’s Medicaid program. The economic and personal reverberations are more difficult to tally, but they include job loss and a change in quality of life for some of Idaho’s most vulnerable residents.
Bruce Vladeck, who directed the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs for four years in the 1990s, summed up the Medicaid program this way. “Medicaid isn’t rocket science,” he said. “It’s harder and more expensive.” Years later, a poster echoing those words hangs in Idaho Medicaid Administrator Paul Leary’s office.
It’s true that in the world of social programs, Medicaid is one of the hardest to understand. It’s something of a catch-all program for low-income people, covering broad and divergent needs. Included are healthy children and adults with eligible dependent children, people with disabilities or special health needs, and the elderly. Eligibility, which is income-based, varies according to the category of qualification for the program.
The Idaho Business Review and IdahoReporter.com are reporting that Representative Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot) is working with a coalition headed by the American Cancer Society to raise Idaho’s tobacco tax next year.
The state currently charges a 57 cent tax on a pack of cigarettes, which is the one of the lowest tax rates in the country. Rep. Lake may sponsor a proposal that would tack on an additional $1.25 to Idaho’s tobacco tax, bringing it up to $1.82.
Rep. Lake is chairman of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, which is where tax bills begin the process. Here’s what the Idaho Business Review is reporting: Continue Reading →
The state legislature’s website lists phone numbers and standard email forms for each legislator. You can to search for your lawmaker by legislative district or by name. If you don’t know either of those, the website provides contact info for your county’s election official, who will be able to give you the right information.
The state website also lists committee assignments for each legislator. Some of the information on the legislature’s website is slightly out of date but it will be updated by the time the session convenes.
Idaho’s 105 legislators are in town for three months each year. It’s known as a citizen legislature, meaning Idaho’s lawmakers aren’t full-time politicians. Most have other careers.
Legislative compensation is established by a citizens’ committee, subject to rejection by the full Legislature. Legislators receive $16,116 per year, plus expenses for housing and travel during the session, and a constituent service allowance of $2,200. The President Pro Tem and Speaker receive an additional $4,000 per year. – Idaho State Legislature’s website
A Ketchum, Idaho business is one of 36 winners in a nationwide contest sponsored by American Express and Google. The Idaho Department of Commerce announced today Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee is one winner in the My Business Story contest.
Here is Liz Roquet’s winning video:
The Department of Commerce reports Roquet won a $5,000 digital media plan for her coffee shop courtesy of American Express and Google.
“We’re so excited to have been selected as one of the contest winners, and love the efforts behind the Shop Small promotion,” says Liz Roquet, Owner of Lizzy’s Fresh coffee. “Small businesses across the country are a core asset to their local communities. I hope people are inspired by the diverse and unique small businesses featured as the 36 contest winners, and make an effort shop at a small businesses.”
In case you weren’t glued to your computer screen all week, here’s what you missed at StateImpact Idaho. These are the five most commented, clicked and shared stories of the week!
Idaho’s Food Stamp Rolls Nearly Triple in Four Years: Food stamp use in the state used to be cyclical. It waxed and waned according to the availability of seasonal jobs. “Use would go down in the spring and up in the fall,” Shanahan said. Now it only climbs. “There’s not any kind of cycle anymore except up,” he said.
Idaho in Top Ten for Cuts in Mental Health Spending: As advocates for people with mental illness will point out, Idaho hasn’t had a great track record of funding services for the state’s mentally ill. “I think the shocking part is we spend $44 per capita on mental health, and the national average is $122. So we’re about a third of the national average,” said Doug McKnight, president of the Idaho chapter of NAMI. Continue Reading →
Idaho’s legislative budget expert expects the state to end the fiscal year with $77 million in the bank. That’s if current projections hold.
Cathy Holland-Smith manages the Budget and Policy Analysis Division at the Legislative Services Office. She unveiled budget projections to a group of lawmakers and Idaho business leaders at the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho conference this week.
In response to our recent story about Idaho’s growing food stamp rolls, IdahoReporter.com sent this 2010 article about the suspension of the state’s asset test for food stamp eligibility. Like many other states, Idaho lifted the asset test in 2009. Previously, families could not qualify for assistance if they held more than $2,000 in assets, not counting resources like their home and house lot. According to the Department of Health and Welfare, the state’s food stamp rolls had ballooned prior to the decision to lift the asset limit, growing by 36 percent from 2008 to 2009.
Early this year, the Idaho Legislature amended the asset test, raising the limit to $5,000 and ending the temporary suspension. The new limit went into effect in June. Continue Reading →
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