States face budget woes

Weak economy poses more budget problems for cash-hungry states ... – FoxNews

The 5 states facing the darkest economic outlook are :
(50)  New York     (49)  Vermont     (48)  Maine     (47)  California     (46)  Hawaii

The 5 states with the brightest outlook : Utah, South Dakota, Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho.

[4th edition] Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index based its economic outlook ranking on 15 policy variables : including tax burdens, legislated tax changes, regulatory burdens and labor policy.

The 5 best-performing states : Wyoming, Texas, Montana, North Dakota & New Mexico.
– what these have in common are low or no income taxes & strong population growth.