'Rich States, Poor States' Report Finds Poorest States have Dem. Governors

Nick Kangadis | April 13, 2016
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The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) recently released their ninth annual “Rich States, Poor States” report.

After doing a little research, MRCTV found that eight out of the 10 poorest states currently have a Democratic governor. In contrast, 10 out of the top 10 richest states are currently under Republican leadership.

Only two states with Republican governors ranked among the 10 poorest states in the report: New Jersey (governed by former Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie) and Illinois.

In fairness to Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, the mayor of Chicago has pretty much run Illinois’ finances. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has the city of Chicago on the brink of chaos and bankruptcy at the moment. Unfortunately, as Chicago goes, so goes the state.

According to the report's introduction:

The Economic Outlook Ranking is a forecast based on a state’s current standing in 15 state policy variables. 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.

The Economic Performance Ranking is a backward-looking measure based on a state’s performance on three important variables: State Gross Domestic Product, Absolute Domestic Migration and Non-Farm Payroll Employment—all of which are highly influenced by state policy. This ranking details states’ individual performances over the past 10 years based on this economic data.

(Image: Screenshot/ALEC)

Here are the top 10 and bottom 10 states in the “Rich States, Poor States” report, followed by their respective governors, political party and number of consecutive years each state has been under their current governors' political party leadership:

 

To read the full ALEC report, click here.

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