Press Release

New Report Analyzes Governors’ Economic Policy Proposals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Taylor McCarty
tmccarty@alec.org
734-752-5646

New Report Analyzes Governors’ Economic Policy Proposals
State of the State addresses reveal free market successes and failures 

Arlington, VA (June 14, 2017) – An annual report released today by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) compares and contrasts the economic policy proposals discussed in the State of the State addresses of governors across the country. An embrace of pro-growth reforms is evidenced in a number of these addresses. Unfortunately, other governors chose to advocate for ideas demonstrably harmful to economic prosperity.

“The fiscal proposals presented by America’s 50 governors vividly display the differences of opinion on the role of state government. Today, many state budgets are strained, after years of anemic national economic growth and in many cases, years of unchecked state spending growth,” said Jonathan Williams, Chief Economist at ALEC and Vice President of the Center for State Fiscal Reform. “Fortunately, many governors now recognize how uncompetitive tax burdens and excessive government spending harm economic opportunity for their hardworking taxpayers.”

Governors that proposed the best policies for taxpayers include Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Governor Eric Greitens of Missouri, Governor Paul LePage of Maine, Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Governor Pete Rickets of Nebraska and Governor Phil Scott of Vermont. Their State of the State addresses directly focused on the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.

“These annual addresses highlight the spectrum of approaches to budget matters in the individual states,” said Joel Griffith, Director of the Center for State Fiscal Reform. “For instance, while governors in places such as Nebraska and Maine pursue lower income taxes, Alaska’s governor seeks a reinstatement of the personal income tax and Louisiana’s governor demands a new business tax. Citizens vote at the ballot box. And based on the starkly divergent proposals, they’re likely to continue voting with their feet as well.”

To facilitate an interview with Jonathan Williams or Joel Griffith, send an email to tmccarty@alec.org. Tune in to a Facebook Live event on Friday, June 16 at 1:30pm featuring the authors of the report. View the report in full on the ALEC website.

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The American Legislative Exchange Council is the largest nonprofit association of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism. Nearly one quarter of all state legislators are members of ALEC and represent more than 60 million Americans. ALEC member companies, which range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, create roughly 30 million American jobs. To learn more, visit www.alec.org.


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