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Delaware

Ruth Ann Minner, Democrat

Legislature: Divided

Midterm Grade: F

more than 6 percent in real per capita terms.

Ruth Ann Minner racked up a grade of D

On the tax side, she continued her years-long

during her first term in office. Her grade this

crusade to punish smokers by raising the ciga-

year--a midterm grade for her second term--

rette tax. The legislature declined to pass that

reflects the disappearance of the fiscal disci-

tax increase but did get her to agree to a small

pline that characterized the early part of her

gross receipts tax cut. As tax revenue continues

first term when she imposed a hiring freeze on

to flow into state coffers in Delaware, it seems

all but essential government jobs and ordered

that Minner has more interest in spending it

$30 million in state agency cuts in 2002. When

than in giving some back to state taxpayers.

faced with a budget surplus in 2005, Minner

Continuing in that fashion will definitely keep

was happy to help find ways to spend most of

her in the lower ranks of this report card.

it. The first budget of her second term grew

Florida

Jeb Bush, Republican

Legislature: Republican

Final-Term Grade: C

Final Overall Grade: B

spurred largely by some big-spending schemes

Jeb Bush leaves office with a well-deserved

proposed by Bush himself, such as the grant of

reputation as one of the most aggressive tax-

$310 million in taxpayer money to the Scripps

cutting governors in the nation. He has pro-

Institute to lure it to Florida from La Jolla,

posed and signed into law a tax cut virtually

California. Real per capita general fund spend-

every year of his tenure, ranging from cuts in

ing has grown an annual average of 5 percent

property taxes to a phaseout of the intangibles

over the past two years, making Bush one of the

tax--a levy on certain financial assets like stocks

biggest spending Republican governors in this

and bonds that makes Florida's tax code hos-

report card. Bush is seen by many as an attrac-

tile to capital formation. It is the strength of his

tive candidate for higher office. He certainly

tax cutting that has sustained his grade

has a solid record on taxes. But the one glaring

through the past eight years; he received an A

question that his second-term budget record

on this report card for his first term. What has

has produced is whether he's turned into a big-

finally caused his grade to drop to a C this term

government Republican.

was explosive growth in state spending,

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