Gov. John Bell Edwards and his family | facebook
Gov. John Bell Edwards and his family | facebook
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards received a grade of “C” from the Washington-based CATO Institute for his tax and spending policies since 2018, according to a ranking of governors that comes out every two years.
The Washington, D.C., policy institute gave the governor an overall fiscal score of 53 on a scale of zero to 100. Governors who have worked to limit taxes and spending were awarded higher grades, while those who raised taxes and spending levels scored lower, according to the analysis.
Not all the nation’s governors were graded. State executives in Kentucky and Mississippi were excluded because they haven’t been in office very long, and Alaska’s governor was not graded due to oddities in the state’s budget, the CATO report says.
Governors were rated on seven variables that dealt with spending and revenue issues, as well as tax rates, the analysis states.
The study also suggests that states can respond to budget challenges, such as the coronavirus pandemic, by taxing sales generated from marijuana legalization and by banning collective bargaining by government employees.
In addition, it provides advice about building up rainy-day funds to prepare for future emergencies and creating tax systems that encourage economic growth.
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Overall Fiscal Grades for Governors
| State | Governor | Score | Grade |
| New Hampshire | Chris Sununu (R) | 75 | A |
| Iowa | Kim Reynolds (R) | 71 | A |
| Nebraska | Pete Ricketts (R) | 70 | A |
| Wyoming | Mark Gordon (R) | 66 | A |
| Arkansas | Asa Hutchinson (R) | 64 | B |
| Texas | Greg Abbott (R) | 62 | B |
| Vermont | Phil Scott (R) | 61 | B |
| Georgia | Brian Kemp (R) | 61 | B |
| Florida | Ron DeSantis (R) | 61 | B |
| South Dakota | Kristi Noem (R) | 59 | B |
| Nevada | Steve Sisolak (D) | 57 | B |
| Indiana | Eric Holcomb (R) | 56 | B |
| South Carolina | Henry McMaster (R) | 56 | B |
| North Carolina | Roy Cooper (D) | 54 | C |
| West Virginia | Jim Justice (R) | 53 | C |
| California | Gavin Newsom (D) | 53 | C |
| Montana | Steve Bullock (D) | 53 | C |
| Louisiana | John Bel Edwards (D) | 53 | C |
| Wisconsin | Tony Evers (D) | 52 | C |
| Missouri | Mike Parson (R) | 52 | C |
| New Mexico | Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) | 51 | C |
| Idaho | Brad Little (R) | 51 | C |
| Pennsylvania | Tom Wolf (D) | 51 | C |
| Maryland | Larry Hogan (R) | 51 | C |
| Delaware | John Carney (D) | 51 | C |
| Colorado | Jared Polis (D) | 50 | C |
| Hawaii | David Ige (D) | 49 | D |
| Utah | Gary Herbert (R) | 49 | D |
| North Dakota | Doug Burgum (R) | 49 | D |
| Rhode Island | Gina Raimondo (D) | 49 | D |
| Ohio | Mike DeWine (R) | 49 | D |
| Arizona | Doug Ducey (R) | 49 | D |
| Oklahoma | Kevin Stitt (R) | 48 | D |
| Massachusetts | Charlie Baker (R) | 48 | D |
| Maine | Janet Mills (D) | 45 | D |
| Minnesota | Tim Walz (D) | 44 | D |
| Connecticut | Ned Lamont (D) | 43 | D |
| Alabama | Kay Ivey (R) | 42 | D |
| Kansas | Laura Kelly (D) | 41 | D |
| Tennessee | Bill Lee (R) | 40 | D |
| Virginia | Ralph Northam (D) | 39 | F |
| New York | Andrew Cuomo (D) | 39 | F |
| Michigan | Gretchen Whitmer (D) | 39 | F |
| New Jersey | Phil Murphy (D) | 32 | F |
| Illinois | J. B. Pritzker (D) | 30 | F |
| Oregon | Kate Brown (D) | 29 | F |
| Washington | Jay Inslee (D) | 18 | F |
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