Editor’s note: This column by Jon Margolis comes to VTDigger.org through a collaboration with the Vermont News Guy.
The head of a statewide business organization claims that the state’s “bureaucratic, arbitrary, time-consuming and expensive regulatory system” weakens the state’s “business climate.”
A small businessman argues that the high cost of workers compensation makes for a poor business climate.
Citing the ratings of business magazines, a legislative candidate laments the state’s standing “as one of the worst states in the nation for job growth and business climate.”
A pro-business think tank reports that the state has “one of the most difficult business climates in the nation,” and a pro-business journal notes that the state has “a well-documented bad business climate.”
No surprise, right? Vermont’s “poor business climate” has become a statewide mantra, and is already a factor in this year’s governor’s race.
Except that the above examples are from, in order: New Jersey, California, Wisconsin, Washington (State, not D.C.), and Maryland.
