Hire One Act passes
POSTED: Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 02:54 PM PTBY: Brad Carlson
Tags: Idaho Legislature
The Idaho Legislature passed a jobs-incentive bill April 7, the final day of the legislative session. The Hire One Act provides tax credits to employers who hire. It sets three levels of qualification for refundable income tax credits based on how the employer is rated by the state Department of Labor for payment of unemployment [...]
Bill would give foreclosed owners two weeks’ notice 
POSTED: Monday, April 4, 2011 at 08:49 AM PTBY: Dave Goins
Tags: Idaho Attorney General's Office, Idaho Legislature, subprime mortgage loan crisis
With the wreckage from America’s subprime mortgage loan crisis still floating in, the Idaho Attorney General’s office has proposed a bill an official with the agency says would aid Idaho consumers threatened by property foreclosures. The House Business Committee on March 29 fast-tracked the bill to the House floor’s second reading calendar, as the Idaho [...]
Interest rate on highway bonds may inch up
POSTED: Friday, April 1, 2011 at 09:14 AM PTBY: Brad Carlson
Tags: Fitch Ratings, Idaho Housing and Finance Association, Idaho Legislature, Idaho Transportation Department
The type of bond Idaho uses to pay for highway construction is in danger of being downgraded by a major rating agency, but any increase in cost to the state probably would be small. Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on grant-anticipation bonds, which are backed by revenue states expect to receive from the federal government, [...]
Medicaid claims malfunction could cost Idaho
POSTED: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 03:36 PM PTBY: The Associated Press
Tags: Idaho Legislature, Medicaid, Molina Medicaid Solutions
Idaho’s new, problem-plagued Medicaid claims processing system may cost taxpayers millions of dollars, according to a report released March 29 by legislative auditors who concluded that neither Idaho health officials, the software company nor Medicaid providers were adequately prepared for the switch last year. After California-based Molina Medicaid Solutions took over the $106 million contract [...]
Micron pushes exemptions from disclosing business property
POSTED: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 01:36 PM PTBY: Dave Goins
Tags: Idaho Legislature, Idaho State Tax Commission, Micron Technology
It was dubbed the “Micron secrecy” bill by one state lawmaker. Nonetheless, House Bill 239 – which would exempt all Idaho businesses from the requirements of a proposed agency rule for public disclosure of personal property for businesses – gained the blessing of the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee meeting on March 29. “It [...]
Budget cutters went against some constituents on cigarette tax
POSTED: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 08:35 AM PTBY: The Associated Press
Tags: cigarette tax hike, Idaho Legislature
In recent days, Rep. Cameron Wheeler has fielded numerous phone calls from voters in his eastern Idaho district that took him a little off-guard. “They told me, ‘Vote for the cigarette tax increase,’” said Wheeler, R-Ririe, of the callers’ message. “I told them, ‘There isn’t anything to vote for.’” The people lighting up Wheeler’s House [...]
Eastern Idaho lawmaker calls for moratorium on wind towers
POSTED: Friday, March 11, 2011 at 02:25 PM PTBY: Anne Wallace Allen
Tags: Erik Simpson, Idaho Legislature, wind power
House lawmakers plan a hearing the week of March 14 on a bill that would halt development of wind projects for two years. Sponsor Rep. Erik Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, says recent wind developments around Idaho have given the state more wind power capacity than it needs. “I am a supporter of a diverse energy portfolio [...]
Meridian School District says it could make $1 million from school bus ads
POSTED: Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 03:47 PM PTBY: Anne Wallace Allen
Tags: Board of Education, Chuck Winder, Idaho Legislature, Meridian School District
The Idaho House is considering a measure that would allow school districts to make money from advertisements on school buses. If the bill passes the Legislature and is signed by the governor, the state Board of Education will be asked to create rules governing the ads. The bill prohibits political campaign ads and stipulates that [...]
Gratuity sales tax disappears if bill passes
POSTED: Friday, March 4, 2011 at 01:49 PM PTBY: Brad Carlson
Tags: Idaho Legislature, Idaho Lodging and Restaurant Association, Pam Eaton, restaurant gratuities
Restaurant gratuities would not be subject to sales tax if the Idaho Legislature approves House Bill 213. It would amend a statute to clarify the sales price will not include a gratuity or tip when serving meals, and thus define the work of wait staff as a service. Idaho’s 6 percent sales tax is not [...]
Department of Labor wants to clamp down on corporate unemployment benefits
POSTED: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 07:09 AM PTBY: IBR Contributor
Tags: corporate unemployment benefits, Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho Legislature
Some Idaho businesses have used the unemployment benefits paid to corporate officers – during self-imposed layoffs – to pay company bills in slow financial times. Officials at the Idaho Department of Labor have promoted state legislation aimed at stopping that business practice. Unemployment benefits of $42 million were paid to 5,170 Idaho executives who made [...]
