Some points of the Governor's State of the State Talk

On Monday, January 7th, Governor CL "Butch" Otter gave his
State of the State and Budget Address, where he outlined important points for moving Idaho forward in the year 2013. His highest priority remains public schools. He recommended an increase in funding for K-12 education. He stated that while previous changes to education in Idaho had been turned down, it did not mean Idahoans were satisfied with the current state of public education in Idaho, and instead were calling for a more
collaborative solution that has a broader appeal. He also proposed the
phasing out of the personal property tax in the state, while implementing a local option tax to help with lost revenue.

He also made the decision to have the state of Idaho run the
health insurance exchange rather than relinquishing that control to the federal government. The issue, as the governor put it, was "a matter of states' rights." He reaffirmed his opposition to Obamacare while supporting congressional measures to repeal and replace the law, but conceded that for the foreseeable future it was the law, and therefore had a responsibility to uphold it, not just the laws we support. Concluding on his health
insurance exchange decision, he stated: "I urge you to look beyond the
important work of changing a misguided federal law to the essential task at hand for those of us in this chamber today - preserving for Idaho citizens the option of having a voice in how one element of that law is implemented."
Next, Governor Otter elaborated on the questions regarding Medicaid's role with Obamacare changes looming. He noted that the Supreme Court ruling last year exempted states from being mandated to expand Medicaid eligibility. He expressed his concern on how federal changes to Medicaid would affect
Idaho's own Catastrophic Health Care fund. He previously had commissioned a group of legislators to determine ways to improve Medicaid in Idaho rather than expanding benefits. One of those ways was to base Medicaid
reimbursement incentives not on the quantity of patients a provider sees but instead the quality that he provides to those patients. Since he sees no immediate federal deadline, he is not seeking expansion of those
benefits.
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