She tried to do worse, but the Democrats stopped her. CATO Institute just released their 2016 fiscal scoring of the US governors. No one scored a perfect '100' but 5 Republicans scored an 'A' by achieving at least a '67'. Mary Fallin was not among them. In fact, Fallin scored barely above Ohio Governor, John Kasich. Her 64 would not have happened if she had her way, though. With 11 days left in the 2016 session, Fallin made a bold and unusual move of coming onto the House Chamber's floor, to personally appeal to the Democrats for a massive new consumption tax on tobacco products. The Democrat caucus decided to strategically 'double down' on this move, demanding that the chamber first approve a massive expansion of Medicaid in the Sooner state. The 30 Democrats and a remnant of the Republicans combined to defeat the tobacco tax by a handful of votes. As the roll was about to close, a timid few Republicans quickly switched to 'No' votes so their constituents would not be aware of their willingness to collude in this deal. |
State governments have been in an expansionary phase in recent years. Even though U.S. economic growth since the last recession has been sluggish, general fund revenues of state governments have grown 33 percent since 2010. Some of the nation’s governors have used the growing revenues to expand spending programs, while others have pursued tax cuts and tax reforms. That is the backdrop to this year’s 13th biennial fiscal report card on the governors, which examines state budget actions since 2014. It uses statistical data to grade the governors on their taxing and spending records—governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades, while those who have increased taxes and spending the most receive the lowest grades. Five governors were awarded an “A” on this report: Paul LePage of Maine, Pat McCrory of North Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Doug Ducey of Arizona, and Mike Pence of Indiana. |