hondo812 Loc: Massachusetts

And we agreed and funded building of the wall when Reagan was president. Life sometimes brings disappointment.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

A really. Lol

A Reagan Legacy: Amnesty For I*****l I*******ts

Frosty Loc: Minnesota

Here you go. I did not check to see if all your metrics are included but it seems that the important ones were there.

1. Minnesota
> 2016 Unemployment: 3.9% (13th lowest)
> Pension funded ratio: 79.8% (18th highest)
> Credit rating and outlook: Aa1/Stable
> Poverty: 9.9% (6th lowest)

Ranking as the 10th best run state as recently as 2012, Minnesota has climbed steadily in the rankings in recent years and is now the best run state in the country. A relatively wealthy state, Minnesota’s $65,599 median household income is about $8,000 more than the median income nationwide. With a strong tax base, the state brings in about $4,400 a year per resident in taxes, more than all but four other states. In Minnesota, higher tax revenue means the government can save more. The state has saved the equivalent of 10.3% of its annual spending in a rainy day fund — more than most states and greater than the 8.2% average across states.

Minnesota has a nearly perfect credit rating from Moody’s with a stable outlook.


Here is Massachusetts

12. Massachusetts

2016 Unemployment: 3.7% (10th lowest)

Pension funded ratio: 62.0% (10th lowest)

Credit rating and outlook: Aa1/Stable

Poverty: 10.4% (9th lowest)

Massachusetts is the best-run state in New England, and the 12th best run state nationwide. Many states ranking on the better half of this list benefit from higher than typical tax revenue, and Massachusetts is no exception. The state collects the equivalent of $3,960 per resident annually in taxes, more than all but seven other states and well above the average across all states of $2,821.

Despite the relatively high tax revenues, the state borrows heavily. Massachusetts’ debt amounted to $11,056 per person as of 2015, the most debt per capita of any state.

.....and in last place: Louisiana.

50. Louisiana
> 2016 Unemployment: 6.1% (3rd highest)
> Pension funded ratio: 63.3% (13th lowest)
> Credit rating and outlook: Aa3/Negative
> Poverty: 20.2% (2nd highest)

Many of the worst managed states have relatively little revenue to work with. Louisiana is no exception. The state collects the equivalent of only $2,071 per person in tax revenue a year compared to the $2,821 per capita amount states collect on average. With low revenue, Louisiana struggles to save for unexpected budget shortfalls and fund its pension system. Louisiana’s rainy day fund is only worth about 3.0% of it annual budget and only 63.3% of the state’s pension system is funded, each among the smaller such shares among states.

Joblessness is also a major problem in Louisiana, and the state offers little assistance to its out-of-work residents. Some 6.1% of Louisiana’s labor force was unemployed in 2016, the third highest unemployment rate in the country after only Alaska and New Mexico. Additionally, the average unemployment insurance payout covers less than a quarter of the typical weekly wage. Nationwide, unemployment insurance payouts cover over a third of the average weekly wage.

Detailed Findings

Fiscal responsibility and meeting budgetary obligations are hallmark traits of the states that rank highest on this list. Many states have promised public employees more than they can afford to pay and now have woefully underfunded pension systems. Across all states, an average of only 71.6% of public pensions have financial backing. Of the 10 highest ranking states on this list, seven have pension systems with greater than average funding.

In addition to long-term obligations such as pensions, states have annual budgets that must be funded. While states can often count on spending a certain amount of money per year, they cannot always rely on a set amount of tax revenue. Tax revenue can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including volatile commodity prices, negative GDP growth, population declines, or higher unemployment. As a result, many states have rainy day funds, designed to bridge budget gaps in the event of a shortfall. States with larger than average rainy day funds were rewarded in this ranking.

A state’s ability to meet its financial obligations can hinge on its ability to attract employers and jobs. While the availability of jobs can be affected by forces outside of the government’s control, the government can enact policies that can in time attract companies and create jobs. In the best managed states, unemployment is relatively low. The annual unemployment rate in nine of the 10 best managed states is in line with or lower than the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.9% in 2016. Meanwhile, nine of 10 lowest ranking states have a higher than average unemployment rate.

Often times, a job market’s health is affected by the presence of natural resources. For example, North Dakota has topped off the list of the best managed states in each of the last five years before 2017 due in no small part to the economic boom in the state precipitated by fracking in the state’s Bakken Shale region.

The presence of natural resources, however, can be a double-edged sword. States with vast oil or coal reserves can become overly dependent on resource extraction. This increases their risk of declining revenue in the event of falling commodity prices or decreasing demand. This phenomenon occurred in several oil-rich states, including North Dakota, which fell to seventh place in this year’s ranking in the wake of falling petroleum prices, leading to job losses and near-nation leading GDP decline.

While some states have been hurt by or benefitted from circumstances that are almost entirely out of lawmakers’ control — like the presence of natural resources — other states have been directly hindered by their own policymakers.

Governors in Kansas and Oklahoma, for example, have slashed taxes in an effort to stimulate economic growth. However, the anticipated growth never came and now, with lower tax revenue, these states are face major budget shortfalls.

Illinois, which is suffering from decades of fiscal mismanagement, is an extreme example. Agreeing to more than it could ever pay in public pension negotiations, Illinois now faces one of the largest budget deficits of any state and could become the first and only state to earn a junk credit rating from Moody’s. State lawmakers just passed their first budget in two years and have increased property tax rates to help close the gap. However, higher taxes may ultimately hurt the state’s balance sheet as tens of thousands moved out of the state between July 2015 and July 2016, the largest population decline in the country.