State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna, in his first presentation - the budget for the State Department of Education - said his department has been finding savings. "In the last three budgets, the State Department of Education has given up more than 20 percent of…
As JFAC takes up the biggest single slice of the state budget today - public schools - it's convened jointly with the House and Senate education committees in the Capitol Auditorium. "There's 47 of us - we almost have half the Legislature here," commented JFAC…
Gov. Butch Otter will hold a press conference tomorrow at 2 p.m. to announce his choice for a new chairman of the Idaho State Tax Commission. The press conference, in the governor's ceremonial office, will be streamed live here. Meanwhile, former longtime state tax auditor…
The Cigar Association of America wants Idaho to outlaw "blunt wraps," a type of roll-your-own cigar wrapper, as drug paraphernalia. Russ Westerberg, lobbyist for the group, told the Idaho Senate Judiciary Committee today that "blunts" traditionally were cigars rolled in a single, continuous tobacco leaf,…
Idaho would amend its rape statute to address a recent Ada County case that was dismissed because a judge said it fell into a legal loophole, under legislation introduced unanimously today in the Senate Judiciary Committee. "As soon as I read about this in the…
Hundreds of people filled the Capitol rotunda today for Idaho's official observation of Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day, including lots of children. Estella Zamora, president of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, quoted Martin Luther King: "Now is the time to make justice a…
More than 200 people gathered on the steps of the state Capitol for a tea party rally on this Martin Luther King/Idaho Human Rights Day holiday today, while a knot of protesters waving a drawing of Martin Luther King Jr. and signs saying "No Tea…
State Medicaid administrator Leslie Clement is laying out a couple of possible scenarios for cutting $25 million from Idaho's Medicaid benefits. The first scenario: Eliminate all Developmental Disability Center services for adults, to save $8.4 million in state funds; and eliminate psycho-social rehabilitative services, to…
At the height of the increased matching rate that the federal government offered states for Medicaid, Idaho was getting a 79.18 percent federal matching rate for the program, meaning the state only had to fund 20.82 percent of the program's costs. Now, the federal match…
Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health coverage for the poor and disabled, makes up 80.5 percent of the total Department of Health & Welfare budget, Medicaid administrator Leslie Clement told a joint meeting of JFAC and the House and Senate health and welfare committees…
Rep. Steven Thayn said Rhode Island was able to save a big chunk on its Medicaid program without dropping eligibility, and asked if Idaho could follow suit. Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong responded, "One thing I've learned is if you look at a state,…
Lawmakers are now questioning Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong. Sen. Bert Brackett asked about results of a resolution lawmakers passed last year asking the department to explore drug-testing of people who receive benefits. Armstrong said the report will be published soon, and it found…
How to save money in Idaho's ballooning Medicaid program? State Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong said, "We already have one of the most restrictive Medicaid programs in the nation as far as eligibility. Further tightening would not help us much, even if we could."…
Idaho led the nation in food stamp growth in 2010, state Health & Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told lawmakers this morning. That's partly because in 2008, Idaho was 48th in the nation for food-stamp participation. At that time, only half the Idahoans who qualified for…
It looks like a really, really big committee that's holding a joint hearing today on Health & Welfare and Medicaid budgets. That's because the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee - which itself has 20 members - is sitting jointly with the House and Senate health and welfare…
Today is Martin Luther King Jr./Idaho Human Rights Day, an official state holiday, though the Legislature - which doesn't take holidays - is in session. Legislative doings today include a joint hearing between JFAC and the House and Senate health and welfare committees in the…
Failed congressional candidate Vaughn Ward, now CEO of a for-profit hospital in Post Falls, has waded right back into the middle of the political fray in Idaho, the Associated Press' John Miler reports. Ward's new task is to help lead the latest charge by private…
The Missoulian reports that the U.S. Forest Service has expressed concerns to transportation departments in both Idaho and Montana about the megaloads of oil equipment proposed for U.S. Highway 12, saying they could conflict with its ability to "preserve, protect and manage the cultural and…
On tonight's "Idaho Reports" on Idaho Public TV, I join host Thanh Tan, Marc Johnson, Dan Popkey and Jim Weatherby to discuss the events of the week, including Gov. Butch Otter's State of the State message and state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna's education reform…
Idaho Democrats have issued a statement slamming state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna's sweeping school-reform plan. Among their comments: "If after four years of his leadership, our public school system is 'broken,' why should any parent, student or voter put the slightest faith in any…
Bruce Reed, son of former state Sen. Mary Lou Reed of Coeur d'Alene and Coeur d'Alene attorney Scott Reed, was named Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff today. You can read the official White House press release here. “I’ve known and admired Bruce for…
For the past five years, developers of geothermal, solar or wind power generation facilities have gotten a rebate from the state for the sales tax they pay on the major, permanent equipment that goes into their plants, but the tax credit will expire in June.…
The governor's office and his Division of Financial Management have eliminated pay for their interns, as part of money-saving moves, DFM administrator Wayne Hammon told JFAC this morning, as he presented the two agencies' budget pitches to lawmakers. "In 2012, the budget is flat compared…
Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, quoted John Maynard Keynes, saying, "It's better to be roughly right than precisely wrong," as she moved for JFAC to accept the revenue committee's report. Added Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, "The only thing that we're certain is that we're all wrong."
Rep. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, who serves on both the JFAC and the revenue projection committee and opposed its recommendation, said, "It gives me a great deal of concern that the number we picked has absolutely no relation to the projections of the experts. I guess…
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