National Study: RI 45th Business Friendly State
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Yet another national study has ranked the Ocean State as one of the least business friendly states in the country.
The 15th annual Small Business Survival Index, produced by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, ranks each state for how conducive its laws, regulations, and taxes are to entrepreneurship. The ranking system compares all 50 states and the District of Columbia on a set of 38 indicators, including a variety of tax rates, health care regulation, crime rates, worker benefits, and education reform. (Click here to read the study and here to see the interactive map.)
Rhode Island came in at the bottom, ranking 45th for high corporate income, corporate capital gains, property, and unemployment taxes as well as high electric and gas costs and the highest number of health insurance mandates.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTNotably, the study, which was released this week, shows a recent cut in personal income taxes. In that category, Rhode Island ranks 26th, an improvement from its position of 32nd in the previous year. But it wasn’t enough to bump the state in its overall ranking, which was unchanged from 2009.
‘Most politicians talk a good game’
“As we have witnessed over the past three years, the biggest obstacle to entrepreneurship and investment is public policy gone awry,” wrote study author and economist Raymond Keating.
“While most politicians talk a good game about entrepreneurs and small businesses, public policy too frequently raises costs, creates uncertainty and diminishes incentives for starting up, investing in and building a business,” Keating added. “And again it’s not just elected officials at the federal level that cause problems. It certainly occurs at the state and local levels as well.”
States that did worse than Rhode Island were, in order: Maine, Vermont, California, New York, and New Jersey.
Meanwhile, neighbors Connecticut and Massachusetts did slightly better, ranking 41st and 43nd, respectively.
The top five states were: South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, and Washington.
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