Focus on Fiscal Leadership: Release of the 2020 Fiscal Report Card on America’s Governors

Going into 2020, the United States was in its 11th year of economic expansion and state governments were enjoying robust revenue and spending growth. Then COVID-19 hit and triggered a deep recession, which has created new budget challenges for the nation’s governors.

That is the backdrop to this year’s 15th biennial Fiscal Report Card on America’s Governors, which examines state budget actions since 2018 and grades the governors on their tax and spending records. Governors who have restrained taxes and spending receive higher grades, while those who have substantially increased taxes and spending receive lower grades. This year, four governors were awarded an A and seven were awarded an F.

Please join Cato Institute President Peter Goettler and Director of Tax Policy Studies Chris Edwards for a conversation with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu about this year’s report and the importance of fiscal restraint in state government.

Governor Sununu has defended New Hampshire’s status as a low‐​tax state and kept general funding spending close to flat in recent years. While neighboring Massachusetts imposed a costly payroll tax to fund a new paid leave program, Sununu has vetoed such a plan in his state. Sununu has cut business tax rates to improve New Hampshire’s competitiveness and defended the cuts from legislative efforts to undo them.