New York State Ranked WORST In Country For Economic Outlook, Study Finds

New York has the worst economic outlook of any state in the United States, according to a new report.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) published its 13th annual Rich States, Poor States ranking this week, examining such issues as taxation and economic competitiveness. For the 13th year in a row, Utah was at the top of the ranking, while New York, for the sixth year in a row, was dead last. 

“One of the ultimate measures of whether a state is successful or not is, are people voting with their feet towards that state or away from that state,’ said Jonathan Williams, one of the report’s authors. “Of course we’ve seen some big trend lines over the years now by changes in federal policy such as the limitation to state and local tax or SALT deduction that has put pressure on high-tax states and has driven migration away from states like New York.

“We’ve recently seen these trends accelerate,” he said, according to The Daily Mail. 

New Yorkers have been fleeing the state, which was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo begged residents to come back to New York City from their second-home retreats — mainly so they can pay taxes. 

“I literally talk to people all day long who are now in their Hamptons house who also lived here, or in their Hudson Valley house, or in their Connecticut weekend house, and I say: ‘You got to come back! We’ll go to dinner! I’ll buy you a drink! Come over, I’ll cook!'”

“They’re not coming back right now,” Cuomo said. “And you know what else they’re thinking? ‘If I stay there, I’ll pay a lower income tax,’ because they don’t pay the New York City surcharge.”

The New York Post, though, said it’s not just rich people fleeing the city.

It’s not just a few Upper West Siders who are fleeing New York: Moving companies say they’re swamped with calls from residents looking to ditch the city — even though the COVID crisis has waned.

One likely reason: The virus was but the last straw; New Yorkers are fed up with the shootings and lootings, homelessness on the streets, sub-par online schools, sky-high taxes and the sheer obliviousness of pols like Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.