In the News

States With Low Taxes, Fewer Restrictions Tops For Economic Outlook: Rich States, Poor States in The Center Square

Casey Harper of  The Center Square covered the release of the 17th edition of Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index and featured Jonathan Williams, ALEC Executive Vice President of Policy and Chief Economist, breaking down the latest economic outlook rankings across the states.

The American Legislative Exchange Council released its “Rich States Poor States” report Tuesday. The report ranks states based on “economic outlook” using 15 factors. Those factors include property tax rate, sales tax rate, top marginal income tax rate, top marginal corporate tax rate and how progressive the personal income tax rate is as well as whether there is an inheritance tax.

“This is the 17th annual version of this report that comes out right before Tax Day every year to give legislators and concerned citizens some tangible data for how their state stacks up versus the other 49. It’s really a good policy snapshot into those states,” Jonathan Williams, chief economist at ALEC, told The Center Square.

Williams later on highlighted why performance rankings don’t always align with the outlook rankings due to the non-policy factors impacting the economy.

Each of these factors is influenced directly by state lawmakers through the legislative process. Generally speaking, states that spend less – especially on income transfer programs – and states that tax less – particularly on productive activities such as working or investing – experience higher growth rates than states that tax and spend more.”

Read the full article.