States Freedom Index

Mercatus Center of George Mason University recently released a ranking of the states on their policies affecting both personal and economic freedoms.

The study defines individual freedom as “the ability to dispose of one’s own life, liberty, and justly acquire property however one sees fit, so long as one does not coercively infringe on other individual’s ability to do the same.”

The freest state is New Hampshire, followed by Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, and Idaho. New York is the least free, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, and California.

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Here is the Texas analysis:

Texas (#7 Economic, #5 Personal, #5 Overall) has one of the smallest state governments in the country. Nevertheless, as one of us who lives in Texas can testify, there are plenty of areas where improvement is needed.

As a percentage of corrected GSP, Texas has the second lowest tax burden in the country and the third lowest grants-adjusted government spending. However, government employment is a standard deviation higher than the national average.

Gun control is better than average, but the state falls short on open-carry laws, stricter-than-federal minimum age for purchase rules, and dealer licensing.

Alcohol is less regulated than in most other states, and taxes are low. Low-level marijuana cultivation is a misdemeanor, but otherwise marijuana laws are very harsh. Texas does not authorize sobriety checkpoints.

Private and home schools are almost completely unregulated. Labor laws are generally good, except for a prevailing wage law . Texas is the only state not to require employers to contribute to worker's compensation coverage.

While Texas has only light community rating, it has imposed coverages on health insurance increasing the cost of premiums by more than 63%.

Texas is one of the leaders in telecom and cable "deregulation". Unfortunately, eminent domain has not been extensively reformed. The state's liability system is much worse than average, ending the election of judges may help here.

There are no smoking bans on private property.