08/13/2009
Louisiana Improves In Economic Outlook Rankings
BATON ROUGE, La. - Today, during Gov. Bobby Jindal's ongoing
64-parish "Louisiana Working Tour," focused on highlighting the
importance of business growth and job creation, he highlighted a
study recently released by the American Legislative Exchange
Council, or ALEC, that ranks Louisiana's economic outlook 18th out
of 50 states. The ranking is up from 21st in the same study's prior
year's assessment.
"As the American Legislative Exchange Council's ranking
indicates, our state's commitment to encouraging economic
investment and growth has advanced Louisiana on another national
rankings list," said Gov. Jindal. "We continue to move Louisiana
forward with a strategy focused on job creation, encouraging
greater capital investment in the state and providing our citizens
with the skills needed to compete in the global economy of the 21st
century."
In its 2009 report, ALEC ranked Louisiana No. 1, or in some
cases tied for No. 1, in the nation for the categories of "Recently
Legislated Tax Changes," "Right-to-Work" laws and
"Estate/Inheritance Tax Levied." The analysis also scored Louisiana
in the top 10 in the nation for "Property Tax Burden" rates and
"Number of Tax or Expenditure Limits," and ranked Louisiana 11th
for "Top Marginal Personal Income Tax Rate" and 12th for "Top
Marginal Corporate Income Tax Rate."
Co-author of the council's publication, "Rich States, Poor
States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index," Jonathan
Williams said, "The top performing states keep taxes, spending, and
regulatory burdens low, while the biggest losers in the book tend
to share similar policies of high tax rates, unsustainable spending
and regulation. State governments that believe they can bring about
economic recovery by growing government and increasing taxes are
sadly mistaken."
For view the full report, visit www.alec.org.
