First bill of the 2018 Idaho session introduced

The first bill introduced of the 2018 Idaho Legislature seeks to lower the cost employers pay in unemployment insurance taxes.

If it passes, the proposal introduced Thursday is expected to save employers a total of $115 million over the next three years by reducing a key component in how Idaho calculates the unemployment insurance tax rate. It would also reduce the cost of unemployment insurance taxes by 30 percent.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and officials with the Idaho Department of Labor say the change is needed because the trust fund Idaho uses to pay unemployment benefits has more money than it needs to survive an economic crisis. Currently, the fund is on track to have roughly $1 billion by 2020.