Posted on 02/04/2022 6:57:15 AM PST by Enlightened1
Only a state with the motto “Live Free or Die” is freer than the Sunshine State.
That’s according to the nonprofit CATO Institute’s annual Freedom in the 50 States report, which compares states based on different aspects of autonomy and choice in key policy areas. The report uses hundreds of variables to gauge states on fiscal, regulatory and personal terms.
Overall, Florida came in second to New Hampshire in the 2021 ranking that used 2019 data to compare states.
The CATO Institute bills itself as a libertarian public policy think tank that promotes limited government, free markets and peace.
It highlighted the state’s lack of a personal income tax and warm weather as the pied-pipers of not just well-heeled retirees but also business professionals looking to make the most of their labor.
“Florida does especially well on economic freedom, and even more so on fiscal policy. Indeed, it is our top state on both,” the report said. “Regulatory policy is improved but mediocre compared with the fiscal side.”
Florida’s freedom metrics lagged due to heavy incarceration rates, onerous occupational licensing requirements, state-level health insurance mandates, and the cost of gun control laws on owners and dealers.
To make the state freer, CATO suggests Florida decentralize taxing and spending powers from counties to municipalities, reform its occupational licensing system to remove barriers of entry into careers, and enact criminal justice reforms.
While New Hampshire was this year’s freest state, nearby New York came in last.
Is that Free State Project still a thing?
CATO is for big business, not economic freedom, so be wary. CATO has always loved Virginia, which is in free in some ways, such as lacking tenant rights (I had a landlord just move into a rental group home and decide the living room was his bedroom) but terrible in other ways.
For instance, All roads are run by the state legislature, so any necessary improvements must go to Richmond. A local church was required to expand parking, but to do so, they needed to reconfigure access with the local road... but they needed to go to Richmond to do that! So the petty, Demonrat governor had authority to ultimately limit freedom of religion.
Essentially, the state of Virginia is still structured the way it was when it was a royal colony. It now holds democratic elections, but still lacks basic principles of responsive government.
Thanks Enlightened1 ...
We didn’t find that to be the case when we registered to vote.
Maybe in some places where they do election stealing.
Apparently the Free State movement is still in process.
It will be AZ and Nova Scotia for retirement, although my SO is pushing for Charleston, SC.
Nigerian please.
You didn’t even give a few examples.
Yep, that too, and can barely see over the top of the steering wheel.
Ours was in the top 5.
Pennsylvania does a few things right with strong RKBA and more political power with local jurisdictions which is why you can have a great neighborhood like mine (overwhelmingly Trump voters) in the same Commonwealth as a $#*+hole city like Philadelphia. #14 really isn't too bad considering the are of the country we are in.
Something is wrong with the power structure when a Governor can get involved in DOT decisions to that level.
Maybe that’s why my parents stopped watching. My dad was from rural Maine. Anything to do with it he was checking.
Tennesseans are a brave patriotic bunch for sure. Most of them anyway. I hate to see the flood of libs coming here for the jobs, and we have jobs.
I’m glad to live here during this covid nonsense. A former co-worker of mine had to be hospitalized for five days recently. He said one thing they kept going for those five days was his IV of vitamin cocktail.
I truly believe that when the crap hits the fan, Tennesseans will stand up and be on the front line.
NH has no income or sales tax, but the property taxes are very high.
Yeah... it means that business can thrive, but only when it has the approval of the governor, making Virginia more like China than an example of economic freedom.
Are the newcomers really liberals? I know North Carolina and Georgia, when they had their booms, complained about all the liberal Northeasterners turning their states blue, but the reality in those states is that the newcomers are more conservative than the long-term residents. What really happens is that surging land values turned urban people liberal, just like they did generations ago to Northeasterners.
And to be clear: “Big cities” in Tennessee, in the context of big-city liberalism, means Memphis, Nashville, and to a lesser extent Knoxville.
“Welcome to Minnesota. The only state in the union where absolutely nothing is allowed.” — Joe Soucheray
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