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September 20, 2002

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Rating the Governors: Many Receive Lackluster Grades on Report Card
Cato report finds declining number of tax-cutting Republicans, many states with higher spending

WASHINGTON -- Only two of the nation's governors earned a grade of "A" on the Cato Institute's sixth biennial fiscal policy report card released today. Governors Bill Owens of Colorado and Jeb Bush of Florida received the top scores. Governor Roy E. Barnes of Georgia was the top Democrat with a "B." Owens had the distinction of having the best record on cutting taxes and restraining revenue growth. He was able to cut the state's income tax, capital gains tax, and he supported state taxpayer rebates. Governor Barnes also cut taxes. However, many governors increased spending and taxes, and obtained significantly lower grades. Four governors received an "F" on the 2002 report card -- Gray Davis of California, Don Sundquist of Tennessee, Bob Taft of Ohio, and John Kitzhaber of Oregon.

Governors of the largest states received a wide range of grades: New York's George Pataki, B; Michigan's John Engler, B; and George Ryan of Illinois, D.

"A Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2002," by Senior Fellow Stephen Moore and coauthor Stephen Slivinski indicates "spending has surged in nearly all states in the past decade . . . . States should be combating current budget gaps by going after the source of the problem and cutting spending."

Among the other key findings of the new study:

• States with the highest deficits have had substantially higher spending and tax revenue growth since 1995
• While federal government spending rose 19 percent from 1996 to 2001, state spending rose 39 percent
• Numbers of tax-cutting Republicans and centrist Democrats have dwindled.

"State governments faced a combined budget gap of more than $40 billion in 2002, largely the result of an overspending binge in the 1990s," according to Moore and Slivinski. The report card's grading mechanism is based on objective measures of each governor's fiscal performance. Those with the most fiscally conservative records -- the tax and budget cutters -- get the highest grades. The complete report contains detailed state-by-state data.

"A Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors: 2002"