House Bill No. 297 Summary

• Establishes the "Hire One Act" providing income tax credits to rated employers for hiring new employees above their baseline employment level in Idaho counties.

• New employees must earn at least $12.00 per hour in high-unemployment counties (10% or more) or $15.00 per hour in lower-unemployment counties (less than 10%), and must receive employer-provided health care benefits.

• Credits are tiered by employer wage rating: 6% of gross annual salary for positive-rated employers, 4% for standard-rated employers, and 2% for deficit-rated employers, with refunds available if credits exceed tax liability.

• Total credits cannot exceed 3.25% of net income from business operations, and all chapter credits combined cannot exceed 50% of tax liability (excluding section 63-3029 credits).

• Provisions are retroactively effective January 1, 2011, but expire and become void on January 1, 2014, establishing a three-year sunset period.