State Tax Policy has Major Implications on the Gridiron

Jets and Giants fans now have more concerns to worry about than just their quarterback’s noodle arms. Star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, recently revealed that the primary reason for his decision to join the Miami Dolphins had nothing to do with football at all. Hill said that playing for the Jets “ was very close to happening,” Hill told reporters. “Just those state taxes man. I had to make a grown-up decision.” This isn’t a trend exclusive to the National Football League, star shortstop Corey Seager fled California in free agency. Ditching the Los Angeles Dodgers for the Texas Rangers. One of the main reasons for this move was the fact that Texas does not have a state income tax 

*Hill and Seager’s decisions reflects a pattern seen all across America. Americans have been voting with their feet in favor of lower-taxed states.  With blue states continuing to push tax hikes and other dubious tax policies they continue run the risk of losing residents and jobs. These repercussions will surely spell economic downfall for these states as residents find it harder and harder to live in states with oppressive tax rates. 

“Migration to southern states continues to be magnified by the lingering pandemic. No state netted more U-Haul customers during the last year than Texas,” the moving company said on January 3. Texas and two other no-income-tax states — Florida & Tennessee — rounded out the top three states that netted the most U-Haul customers in 2021. South Carolina ranked as the number four U-Haul growth state, and Arizona ranked at number five. U-Haul reported States without income taxes or very low-income tax rates are seeing unprecedented job growth and an influx of migration. The writing is on the wall: individuals are prioritizing states where they can keep more money in their pockets after taxes. 

Many states have taken notice and are now enacting policies that make their states more competitive. Fourteen states enacted income tax relief in 2021: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. Of these fourteen state income tax cuts, half of them took effect on the first day of 2022. Taxpayers in the following states woke up to reduce income tax rates on new year’s day:  Montana, Missouri, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and New Hampshire. In Georgia, an increase in the standard deduction that was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp also took effect on January 1.  

Tyreek Hill isn’t the first person to take his business to Florida instead of New York and he won’t be the last. New York Democrats should begin making the Empire State a more competitive place to live or the lack of a speedster in the slot will be the least of their problems.