Utah Is The Most Competitive State in US: Jonathan Williams on NTDTV

Tune into the highlights from the launch of Rich States, Poor States. ALEC Chief Economist and Executive Vice President of Policy Jonathan Williams spoke with NTD News host Don Ma on the success of Utah ranking number one in state economic competitiveness as well as the actions taken in other states.

Utah has been cutting taxes aggressively now for over a decade and a half. They've already had a flat tax put in place, just at the start of really the rich states poor states rankings in 2007 and 2008. The reduction of rates, reforms to the pension system and its move to a 401k style, portable individual, or retirement accounts have reduced liabilities for workers. In addition, Utah has been dealing with the uptick in property taxes utilizing model legislation, the truth and taxation law, to address the issue.

North Carolina is one of the biggest turnaround stories in the 16 years of rich states, poor states. They were one of the few states with Utah that has gone from a progressive tax to a flat tax system. They took an outdated tax code made changes including killing the state’s death tax and reducing business tax rates. Arizona comes in at number three using education freedom accounts for students and parents, powering that school choice, as well as passing the flat tax system. Other turnaround states include Virginia, Kentucky, and Mississippi using similar actions for their own improvement.

We along with coauthor Arthur Laffer look at 15 different factors in rich states poor states. They include things such as taxes, regulation, and labor policy. Additional factors such as union membership, right to work laws are key indicators of how competitive states are for business growth and development. We focus on indicators that impact job creation, income growth, state migrations, and individual action in search of economic opportunity. The ALEC report shows that state policymakers can absolutely control and in a relatively short amount of time the rate of turnaround for their own states.