5 ms·
Not only that, but there's often comments about how people moving from CA to TX are fleeing the results of a presumably left wing tax code to enjoy the benefits
by mwfunk 6y ago
Not only that, but there's often comments about how people moving from CA to TX are fleeing the results of a presumably left wing tax code to enjoy the benefits of a presumably right wing tax code, but it's not that simple.
CA is as expensive as it is in large part because of NIMBYs and tax schemes that were absolutely the product of right-wing ballot initiatives for the most part. OTOH, a large part of the appeal of TX is that it doesn't have a state income tax, but the state is absolutely on the dole. IIRC TX takes in ~$150b from the Federal government, but only pays ~$100b into the system. CA (like NY) pays more into the system then it takes out, so about ~$50b of the annual budget of TX is literally bumming money from other states, albeit indirectly.
Which is a roundabout way of saying, the narrative about people moving from CA to TX often makes it sound like a narrative about left-wing economic policies vs. right-wing economic policies, but the reality is that CA is expensive in large part because of right-wing economic policies and TX is cheap in large part because it's basically on welfare from the Federal government. Which is fine, the system should allow economically healthier states to help the less successful states get by (looking at you KY), but it's so counter to the narrative that usually surrounds these stories that people tend to sweep it under the rug. And also TX is hardly an economically unhealthy, depressed state in need of assistance from the rest of the country. It should step up and stop being being a bum, because AFAICT it's not a bum but rather a state with well above-average prospects.
- notnap 6y agoIf we take the water-flow economy, CA is absolutely on a full dependency of a federal government. Water is ain't cheap
- todd8 6y ago> IIRC TX takes in ~$150b from the Federal government, but only pays ~$100b into the system. CA (like NY) pays more into the system then it takes out, so about ~$50b of the annual budget of TX is literally bumming money from other states, albeit indirectly. This isn't true. According to the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government report dated Jan 8, 2019 (which used the data from the Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2019) the fifty states all had differing Federal expenditures vs Federal receipts but Texas and California were close. See page 15 at [1]. On a per capita basis, here are the federal expenditures per dollar of receipts for a few states: Connecticut 0.74 50th New Jersey 0.82 49th Massachusetts 0.83 48th New York 0.86 47th North Dakota 0.94 46th Illinois 0.97 45th New Hampshire 0.98 44th Washington 0.98 43rd Nebraska 0.98 42nd Colorado 0.99 41st California 1.00 40th <=== CA Texas 1.03 39th <=== TX Utah 1.04 38th Wisconsin 1.06 37th Wyoming 1.06 36th Minnesota 1.09 35th Iowa 1.13 34th Nevada 1.14 33rd South Dakota 1.15 32nd Kansas 1.23 31st Florida 1.24 30th ... Virginia 1.97 6th Alabama 1.99 5th West Virginia 2.17 4th Mississippi 2.19 3rd New Mexico 2.34 2nd Kentucky 2.35 1st [1] https://rockinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/1-7-19b-Balance-of-Payments.pdf https://rockinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/1-7-19b-Bala...
- blaser-waffle 6y agoQuite surprised to see VA at #6. Is that because the rest of the state (basically Appalachia) hasn't grown with Richmond / NoVA / VA Beach? Or is VA's proximity to DC and ownership of a lot of the Federal apparatus helping them to get a disproportionate cut? The former -- lack of growth in the rest of the state -- may also be driving the state Blue.
- swixi 6y agoIt's the latter. From the article: "Other states are high or low for various reasons: the outliers Maryland and Virginia, for example, both have dramatically higher Federal spending per capita than the average state, as they are near the physical headquarters for most of the Federal government and have significantly disproportionate Federal spending for procurement and Federal wages." So, while Virginia is a relatively high-income state and contributes a lot of Federal income tax, they also have a lot of Federal employees, grants, contracts, etc. (I was surprised at first too)
- tabtab 6y agoOil-industry fees and taxes subsidizes many services in TX.