IJOBs 2.0 is the second major policy platform from the Idaho Democratic Legislative Caucus this session,  and we are proposing policy ideas that will help bring in a new era of prosperity for Idaho. We started the session proposing ethics reform, because we believe that restoring trust in our government to propose policies that will improve the lives of all Idahoans cannot be accomplished without routing out corruption in our body. Responsible and effective economic policies are needed to rebuild the middle class, and empower businesses to grow. The IJOBs (Idaho Jobs and Opportunity Blueprint) package includes common sense solutions to keep Idaho companies growing while utilizing those companies to lure new businesses to our beautiful state.

At the same time, working across the aisle is one of your expectations, and the Governor’s IGEMs technology idea is badly needed to help close "THE LOW WAGE TRAP" in Idaho. District 17 Senator Elliot Werk proposed an early version of this legislation in 2010, and just as it was then, it is a good idea now. I have provided a link to Senator Werk’s original legislation called the University Technology Transfer Act.

We believe common sense solutions should be bipartisan, and we will work with our GOP colleagues to level the playing field for all Idahoans. The IJOBs 2.0 package will create jobs while improving corporate transparency and accountability.  A brief description of the bills is presented below:

Value-Added Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Act: This will help local family farms and surrounding regions work together to create more full-service processing plants or farm-to-market cooperatives to increase local jobs, create state-of-the-art processing plants, decreased energy and transportation expenses, enhance state agricultural exports, and keep value-added revenues in Idaho.

Idaho Partnership Bank (HCR030):  By partnering with local community banks, an Idaho Partnership Bank would make more capital available to small businesses at a time when many businesses are finding loans harder and more expensive to access.  Its creation would spur economic growth, create new jobs, expand Idaho’s diverse economy, and it could also generate significant revenue for the state of Idaho. Our bill seeks to create a committee to study the feasibility of a state bank.

Business Relocation & Finder’s Fee Initiative:  By encouraging and incentivizing Idaho businesses to persuade vendors, partners, and like-minded businesses to relocate to Idaho we increase the potential for stronger, broader industry clusters, which will result in increased productivity, decrease production costs, and the creation of many new Idaho jobs.

Idaho Corporate Accountability and Transparency Act (HO435): As corporations take advantage of policies designed to stimulate economic activity and use taxpayer dollars, accountability and transparency surrounding the application of tax incentive policy must be a priority. The Idaho Corporate Accountability and Transparency Act will require public disclosure of tax incentive details directed to corporations, including the purpose and amount of each subsidy, and how many full time jobs were created to ensure that Idaho taxpayers are getting the best possible return on their economic development investments. 

Buy Idaho First Contracting Act (HO429): Each additional dollar that circulates in our state boosts local economic activity, employment, and ultimately tax revenue. Job creation can be enhanced in Idaho by leveraging the state’s purchasing power to give preference to goods and services that originate in Idaho. The bill would allow agencies to award contracts to Idaho companies that bid up to 5% higher than the lowest bidder. Keeping our money in Idaho produces returns many times over to create jobs, and to grow Idaho businesses.

Micro Enterprise Bridge Loan Program: Small businesses and entrepreneurial start-ups provide high paying jobs to Idaho citizens and contribute to the expansion of the economy. The Bridge Loan Program is a partnership of public and private stakeholders creating a resource to help Idaho’s small businesses using bonding authority. The bill would establish a revolving loan fund, providing business loans for use as start-up, expansion, and/or modernization to early-stage companies.

Rural Broadband Service Memorial: Idaho’s economy depends on the success of our rural communities. Idaho’s diverse terrain and unique culture is the reason our rural communities have such incredible character.  Yet difficult terrain should not impede Idaho citizens from affordable access to broadband technology, because the survival of rural communities depends on continued access to advanced broadband technology.

You can now view and read some of the latest information from Stephen Cooke's presentation at the Kitchen Table Economics forum here: PDF 1 & PDF 2.

The Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Readiness

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has two major portions that have deadlines that Idaho is quickly trying to meet. The first, the health insurance exchange, we discussed in the last newsletter (See more on health insurance exchange).  The second is Medicaid readiness.

The federal agency that oversees Medicaid has put forth a set of guidelines that states must follow to continue the Medicaid funding match that Idaho is currently receiving from the federal government. According to Dick Armstrong (Director of the Idaho Health and Welfare Department) complying with federal guidelines will allow Idaho to make substantial improvements to our current system. The revamped system will drastically benefit Idaho’s Medicaid system regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit against PPACA.

Medicaid Readiness is the new program that Idaho is using to assure it is complying with federal requirements.

The program is divided into two strategic phases:

Simplification (Modernization). Through the PPACA and various other federal programs, Idaho can now have the needed resources to help solve some immediate problems and gaps we have struggled with in our current Medicaid system.  Recall the billing and payment problems with Molina that caused so many Medicaid providers to go out of business. This project will replace band aid fixes with real fixes. Medicaid eligibility will be moved to a new system (IBIS) that will also efficiently determine eligibility for Food Stamps and cash assistance.  Modernizing other systems will allow rural families access via computer, eliminating long drives to surviving offices and replacing many ineffective systems allowing the state to verify and check for misuse.

Expansion. Because the law was intended to increase access to healthcare for our most needy, Medicaid will be available to any adult under the age of 65 who earns at or below 133% of the Federal poverty line. For a single person, that would mean earnings of approximately $14,500/year. For a family of four, that corresponds to just over $29,500. For many, it will be a much needed relief since many adults subsist at one-quarter to one half of the poverty level but have never been eligible for help. For Idaho, payment for these individuals would be completely covered by the federal government for the next couple years. As a bonus, the $40 million that we now spend in the catastrophic healthcare fund (without any federal matching funds) will be mostly replaced by this system where Idaho gains a 70% match for each dollar that we spend. That’s big savings for taxpayers.

Whether you support or oppose Affordable Care Act it has already caused positive changes in Idaho. Given these new developments, I expect even more improvements for our citizens.