Emilie Ritter Saunders:  A recent report from Pew Center on the States lists Idaho among 26 states ‘trailing behind’ when it comes to evaluating tax incentives.  That is, having a mechanism in place to take a closer look at the state-specific incentives and exemptions on a regular basis, and to evaluate if they’re doing what they were intended to do.  In most cases, that’s spurring economic growth and development.

Another study published by Good Jobs First back in 2010, found Idaho is among 13 states with a failing grade on tax incentive transparency.  Idaho doesn’t have a database of where tax incentives go, who gets them, and what kind of benefit (if any) a particular program has.

Both studies suggest many states aren’t where they should be and that Idaho isn’t alone.

Still, these studies point to examples of where policy makers are doing a good job of making this kind of information publicly available.