(The Center Square) β A recent ranking of US state governors ranked Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolfe last, ranking 44th on fiscal policy.
Ann annual fiscal policy report card The Kate Institute, a libertarian think tank, graded the country’s governors “from the perspective of limited government.” Wolf received an ‘F’ in a rating that emphasized lower taxes and reduced spending.
The five A-grade governors are Republicans: Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Brad Little of Idaho, and Doug Ducey of Arizona.
The eight governors who won F’s were Democrats: Minnesota’s Tim Waltz and Tom Wolfe, Illinois’ JB Pritzker, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, New Jersey’s Phil Murphy, Oregon’s Kate Brown, and California’s Gavin. This is Jay Inslee from Newsom, Washington.
βThe rating mechanism is based on seven variables: two expenditure variables, one income variable and four tax rate variables,β notes the report.
The rankings “describe tax and spending actions that affect the state’s short-term budget. But they don’t describe long-term or structural changes the governor may make, such as reforming the state’s pension system.” The results therefore provide one measure of how financially conservative each governor is, but they do not reflect every fiscal action they take.β
At the regional level, Wolf defeated New Jersey’s Phil Murphy. ) was 17th.
The highest-scoring Democrat was North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, who was sixth on B’s. The lowest-scoring Republican was Tennessee’s Bill Lee, who ranked 42nd on the D.
Reflecting Pennsylvania’s corporate tax rate cuts, Wolf’s highest ranking in Cato’s variables was 7th in the tax rate score. “He has performed moderately or poorly in previous Cato governor reports despite signing significant corporate tax reform into law in 2022.
The report criticizes Mr. Wolfe for creating a natural gas segregation tax, joining Cap and Trade’s regional greenhouse gas initiative, and proposing to raise individual income taxes (all rejected by Congress). or under litigation), the report focused on the health of the federal budget.
“Under Wolf, Pennsylvania’s General Fund budget will grow 13.3% in 2022 and an additional 8.7% in 2023,” Kate said.
https://www.indianagazette.com/news/state/wolf-with-an-f-fiscal-policy-report-card-gives-pennsylvania-low-grade/article_3d2ca205-05b0-5427-a5fc-c529159c9e86.html Wolves with F: Fiscal Policy Report Card underperforms Pennsylvania.state