Tag: Rich States Poor States
Tag: Rich States Poor States (page 3)
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Kansas State of the State: Gov. Brownback Resists Tax Hikes, Calls for Constitutional Amendment on Ed Financing
The governor’s rejection of a tax increase is welcomed news for taxpayers. Just last year, legislators overrode his veto in order to enact an enormous tax increase of $1.2 billion over the next two years alone. This tax hike on individuals and businesses wiped out much of the tax reductions from the 2012 reforms. Avoiding a new tax increase, pushing for a voter-approved constitutional amendment on school financing, and demanding educational reforms will help avoid compounding the damage from last year’s tax hikes.
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The Rest of the Story: Right-to-Work Could Spur Opportunity in the Buckeye State
Economic results conflict with the charge that right-to-work is a “radical change” that would “only take away from working families.” In fact, right-to-work states experienced nearly twice the rate of population growth and a more than 50 percent greater change in nonfarm employment.
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Arizona State of the State: Confidence and Conviction, Promise and Possibility
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey delivered a sunny State of the State address, highlighting the “capacity of our state, and its people, to always be ahead of the…
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California State of the State: A High Speed Train of Taxes and Spending
California Governor Jerry Brown boldly championed an unabashedly liberal agenda throughout his 16th—and final—State of the State address. The governor declared, “California is prospering,” a stark turnaround from the economic…
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Michigan State of the State: A Comeback Story
Fortune is changing in the state of Michigan following decades of extreme economic adversity, from the rapid downturn in the auto industry to the downward population spiral in Detroit. Governor…
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Kentucky State of the State: Governor Bevin Commits to Tax and Pension Reform
Kentucky had an eventful legislative session last year after the state house switched party control for the first time since 1921, resulting in a Republican trifecta. During…
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Missouri State of the State: Government Should “Do Fewer Things and Do Them Better.”
The Show-Me State’s 2018 legislative session is off to an exciting start, as Eric Greitens begins his second year as Missouri governor. His inaugural session in office focused heavily on…
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Nebraska State of the State: Tax Reform on the Horizon
Last year, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (R.) received the American Legislative Exchange Council annual “Best of the Best” award for his bold, pro-growth oriented State of the…
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Indiana State of the State Address
The Hoosier State has implemented commendable changes regarding tax and fiscal policy in the past several years, with strong leaders at the helm including Governor Eric Holcomb, and former Governors…
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Iowa Governor’s Condition of the State Address Promises Bold Tax Reform
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds delivered her first Condition of the State address last week in Des Moines. Reynolds served as Lieutenant Governor under former Governor Terry Branstad.
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Taxpayers Score Win as Pennsylvania House Squashes Proposed Tax Hikes
Late Wednesday night, members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a budget that is free of the onerous tax increases included in previous budgets passed by…
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North Carolina Accelerates Broad-Based Tax Relief
By further lowering economically destructive taxes on productivity, North Carolina lawmakers are giving the state’s economy yet another long-term boost, further magnetizing its draw for individuals and businesses alike.
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State of the State: Illinois
From Illinois’ crushing taxes and regulations to the state’s fiscal problems, it is easy to see why people are voting with their feet and leaving the state at disproportionately high rates. If the Land of Lincoln wishes to stop the bleeding, Governor Rauner can’t be the only one with good ideas—members of the General Assembly and the general public need to get behind necessary reform efforts to save the state.
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State of the State: Delaware
Governor Carney's agenda resists overall spending reductions, advocates for higher taxes and neglects other needed policy reforms (such as worker’s compensation and worker freedom). With a legislature unlikely to circumvent the lackluster agenda of the new governor, don’t expect Delaware’s economic outlook to break through the median anytime soon.
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State of the State: Ohio
A renewed focus on reforms-rather than government micromanagement-can ensure the governor’s homestretch is one of continued economic renewal.
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State of the State: New Hampshire
Despite the Granite State’s strengths and Sununu’s proposals, there remains work to be done. For example, the top marginal tax rate for corporations is a steep 8.2%; and although New Hampshire doesn’t have a personal income tax or sales tax, it does have the highest property tax burden in the nation. New Hampshire also ranks a lackluster 37th in the nation in terms of burdensome regulations according to the Pacific Research Institute. Furthermore, the recently released ALEC report Unaccountable and Unaffordable 2016 ranks the state’s pension funding level at 43rd nationally. Using a risk-free rate of return of 2.344 percent, New Hampshire’s state pensions are unfunded in excess of $13,000 per capita with a funded ratio of just 28 percent.
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State of the State: Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s economic outlook remains bright, despite the recent localized recession as the oil boom crashed to a halt. Rather than enacting these permanent tax increases, a continuation of temporary budget constraints more adequately will preserve the Sooner State’s economic competitiveness.
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State of the State: Indiana
Governor Holcomb should continue the legacy of his predecessors by ensuring a phase-in of the tax cuts, expanding educational choice, and minimizing intrusive regulations. But attempting to short-circuit organic jobs growth by redistributing tax dollars from the state’s venture capital slush fund strays from good government principles. Doling out favors to politically-connected businesses and attempting to centrally direct sector growth is not reflective of free enterprise. Indiana is well-positioned to benefit from previously enacted reforms. Now is the time to build on this progress rather than engage in transformative retrogression.
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State of the State: New Mexico
In short, it’s not that things in New Mexico are getting worse; they’re just stuck in low gear. According to ALEC’s Rich States, Poor States, economic performance remains in the bottom third of all states; economic outlook is stuck at 34th place nationally, just one spot better than back in 2010. This lackluster outlook persisted during the energy boom years of 2010-2013. In fact, from 2004-2014, only ten states had lower gross domestic product growth than New Mexico. It’s no surprise that the state experienced negative domestic migration in 2016 for the fourth consecutive year in a row.
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State of the State: Arkansas
Amid frightful winter storms coating a large part of Arkansas and the South, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson delivered his State of the State address in Little…