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The CATO Institute, as reported in last Tuesday's Sun-Gazette, recently took a detailed look at freedom in each state. Overall, the CATO Institute ranked Pennsylvania 18th for personal and economic freedom.
The good news is that Pennsylvania generally fared well when compared to its immediate neighbors: New York ranked 50th, New Jersey 47th, Maryland 45th, Delaware 44th and West Virginia 32nd. Ohio was close behind at 21st.
We are well-positioned to attract families and employers who wish to remain in the Mid-Atlantic region but wish to ease the burdens of government excess in their lives. We have long believed, as we watch our nation's population shift and move from intrusive states in the northeast and around the Great Lakes to states where they have better opportunities to thrive and prosper, that our state and particularly our region should boldy make the case for coming here.
Bolstering that case -- and also firmly in the "good news" column -- is that the same assessment places Pennsylvania fifth for financial liberties. The CATO Institute reviewed tax policies, spending and government employment to reach this set of conclusions. While we believe -- and the CATO Institute agrees -- that more progress on cutting spending and providing Pennsylvanians with tax relief can be made, we still are glad that our state government has demonstrated a better understanding of the pitfalls of high tax rates and excessive spending than many of our other states.
The report contained some bad news as well.
Pennsylvania ranks 37th for regulatory policy -- which includes many of the burdens and obstacles that stop employers from building factories, warehouses and offices in our state and in our region. We can only reiterate that our legislature and governor need to reform and reduce the regulatory burden state government places on businesses. The Center Square's Christen Smith, in reporting on the CATO Institute's findings, noted that bills to address many of these issues are languishing in our state Legislature.
Hopefully in the new year our legislators can work on refining and passing these proposals and hopefully, the next time the CATO Institute ranks the states, we will see a state government more steadfastly committed to the personal and economic freedom that can spur development and job creation across Pennsylvania.