The Best and Worst Run States in New England

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Saturday, November 23, 2013

Kate Nagle, GoLocal Contributor

Massachusetts this week ranked #18 on 24/7 Wall Street's "Best and Worst Run States in America" survey of how well states are managed.  And while the state ranked 37th for its budget deficit at 5.5%, Massachusetts' debt per capita of $11,309 put it at the top of the country for having the highest.

See How New England States Ranked BELOW

What makes one state better than another, in terms of how its run? According to Wall Street 24/7, it in part involves looking at criteria including fiscal measurements, such as a state's budget deficit and debt per capita, as well as quality of life, including unemployment and median household income.

Regarding its assessment of the Bay State, Wall Street 24/7 wrote, "Massachusetts’ tends to spend a great deal on its population. In particular, it spent about $640 more per person on public welfare than the average state. It had more than $74 billion in debt in fiscal 2011, or 131% of the state’s revenue. Massachusetts had, by far, the most debt of any state. State debt across the 50 states accounted for about 50% of revenue, on average,"

They continued, "A positive factor for the state is its residents’ health coverage. In part because of the comprehensive health insurance program implemented by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2006, residents easily have the highest coverage rate in the country. Only 3.9% of the population did not have health insurance in 2012, compared to less than 15% nationwide.

Focus on Assets

24/7 Wall Street noted that "many of the best-run states in the nation benefit from an abundance of natural resources" -- which Lisa Strout with the Massachusetts Film Office thought the state had "in spades" -- along with human resources.

"I think we offer a great deal of variety of beauty, but character, and texture because of our age here in Massachusetts," said Strout. "It's not like the suburbs of LA that are new. There's a sense of time and place having passed, and being a story in itself. I think that really affects filmmaker -- its so important for them to visit to come here and see for themselves."

Srout noted that the production "American Hustle" which filmed in the city in April was due in theaters next month. "There will be a limited release on December 13, and then a wide release on December 18," said Strout, who added that estimates show that production was up "about 10%" in the state from last year.

"Our natural resource is our land, but we have a favorable tax incentive plan, and a depth of crew and talent -- now with Fort Devens [film facility] coming online we have the infrastructure. We lost some productions because we didn't have buildings necessary. Having a true a soundstage, it's one of those anchors for creating a production," said Strout.  

Strout spoke to the process of how the industry has come to expand in the state. "There's a strategy, that you're building something -- your crew, your people, and your talent come first," said Strout. "With that came vendors, businesses, services -- and private equity.

Recently, Massachusetts was named one of top ten filming locations -- in the world.

"We are on P3Update's list," said Strout. "They're the industry insiders."  

New England Snapshots 

In addition to ranking the states. 24/7 Wall Street provided snapshots of the current condition of each state, according to the criteria looked at.  

"Rhode Island had more debt per resident than any other state except for Alaska and Massachusetts as of fiscal 2011. Moody’s cited the state’s eight consecutive years of budget gaps as part of its justification for its relatively poor credit rating. In an attempt to improve funding levels, the state reformed its pension program in 2011, turning its pensions into hybrids with 401(k)-like features, as well as suspending both cost-of-living adjustments and benefit increases. Still, as of last year, the state had funded just over 58% of its pension obligations, compared to a 72.4% average across all states."

"Connecticut’s economy was the only one in the country to contract in 2012. The state also had the 4th highest debt per capita in fiscal 2011. Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s rate the state’s credit as relatively poor. This may be due to the state’s poorly-funded pension. The state’s pension obligations were less than half funded as of 2012. Connecticut’s crime rate was better than the national rate, although it varied considerably across the state. In Stamford, the violent crime rate was under 300 incidents per every 100,000 people. In New Haven, on the other hand, it was close to 1,500 — among the highest rates for any metro area."

"By many measures, New Hampshire’s population has a higher quality of living than most of the country. The state had among the highest proportions of adults with a high school diploma and one of the lowest violent crime rates in the country last year. Also, just 10% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2012, lower than any other state. The state’s financial track record, however, is not as impressive. The state’s government debt was $6,414 per person as of fiscal 2011, making it one of only eight states with more than $6,000 in debt per capita."

"By some measures, Maine has a relatively weak economy. While the national economy grew by 2.5% last year, the state’s GDP grew by just 0.5%. The Pine Tree state exported $2,300 in goods per resident that year, compared to the $4,928 exported nationwide per person. On the positive side, the state’s population is well off. Maine had the lowest violent crime rate in the country last year, at just 123 incidents per 100,000 residents."

"Vermont residents generally have a high quality of life, with very low crime and poverty rates last year. Despite a fairly high level of debt distributed across a small population as of fiscal 2011, the state’s credit rating is relatively strong. Vermont also had among the highest proportion of adults with a high school diploma in the nation last year. This may be due in part to the amount the state invests in education — Vermont spent $3,708 per capita on education in fiscal 2011, the most in the country. Education spending accounted for 40% of the state’s total expenditure that year, among the highest nationally."

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Related Slideshow: The Best and Worst Run States in New England

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