… if you want to know the best and worst states for business, listen up! The Tax Foundation has released its latest analysis of state business tax climates, and you probably won’t be surprised by the results …

The 10 best states in this year’s State Business Tax Climate Index are:

1. Wyoming – No corporate or income tax and a right-to-work state

2. South Dakota – No corporate or income tax and a right-to-work state

3. Nevada – No corporate or income tax and a right-to-work state

4. Alaska – No income tax or state sales tax

5. Florida – No income tax and a right-to-work state

6. New Hampshire – No sales tax

7. Washington

8. Montana – No sales tax

9. Texas -- A right-to-work state

10. Utah – A right-to-work state

The 10 lowest ranked, or worst, states are:

41. Iowa

42. Maryland

43. Wisconsin

44. North Carolina

45. Minnesota

46. Rhode Island

47. Vermont

48. California

49. New York

50. New Jersey

Another thing to take note of … Illinois had the most dramatic move on the list, falling twelve places to #28. Why the fall?

Only a year ago, Governor Pat Quinn and his fellow Democrats raised individual income taxes by 67% and the corporate tax rate by 46%. They did it to raise $7 billion in revenue, as the Governor put it, to “get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing” and improve the state’s credit rating. So much for that.

 

…And—no surprise—in part because the tax increases have caused companies to leave Illinois, the state budget office confesses that as of this month the state still has $6.8 billion in unpaid bills and unaddressed obligations.

 So Illinois raises taxes because the liberal thought process is that tax increases net you more revenue. Unfortunately liberal thought is not backed by historical fact or logic. The tax increase did not shore up their fiscal woes. I could have told you that one! And not only that … unemployment rates in Illinois have increased. In fact, Illinois placed more people on the unemployment rolls than any other state in the country!

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported some good news: Unemployment rates have dropped in 46 states from January 2011 to January 2012 … except for four states. Guess what? Illinois was one of those states! Illinois's sharp rise in unemployment (+0.8%), while most of the country and all of their neighbors saw drops, suggests that the tax increases are a contributing factor.

Will this be a lesson for other states looking to shore up their budgets or deficits by raising taxes? Doubtful, if there is a Democrat at the helm.