From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   The Blue State Exodus Accelerates   
   By The Editorial Board, April 28, 2023, WSJ   
   The IRS each spring publishes data on the movement of adjusted gross income   
   (AGI) and taxpayers across state lines from year to year. Some Democratic   
   Governors such as Mr. Pritzker claimed that the 2020 Census undercounted their   
   state populations, but    
   the IRS data shows blue states are losing taxpayers and income at an   
   increasing clip.    
      
   The IRS data shows a net 105,000 people left Illinois in 2021, taking with   
   them some $10.9 billion in AGI. That’s up from $8.5 billion in 2020 and $6   
   billion in 2019. New York’s income loss increased to $24.5 billion in 2021   
   from $19.5 billion in    
   2020 and $9 billion in 2019. California lost $29.1 billion in 2021, more than   
   triple what it did in 2019.   
      
   By contrast, the lowest tax states added some $100 billion of income during   
   the pandemic. Zero-income-tax Florida gained $39.2 billion—up from $23.7   
   billion in 2020 and $17.7 billion in 2019. About $9.8 billion of the total   
   arrived from New York, $3.9    
   billion from Illinois, $3.7 billion from New Jersey and $3.5 billion from   
   California.   
      
   Texas was another winner, attracting a net $10.9 billion in 2021, which   
   follows a gain of $6.3 billion in 2020 and $4 billion in 2019. Californians   
   represented more than half of Texas’s income gain in 2021. The Golden State   
   also sent $4.4 billion to    
   Nevada, $2.7 billion to Arizona and $2 billion to Washington. Nevada and   
   Washington don’t tax wages, and Arizona is phasing out its income tax.   
      
   Illinois lost income to all of its neighboring states, but the biggest   
   beneficiaries of its taxpayer flight were Florida, Texas, Indiana and   
   Wisconsin. Mr. Pritzker can’t blame lousy weather since it’s not exactly   
   balmy in Kenosha. Billionaire Ken    
   Griffin cited Chicago’s out-of-control crime last year as the reason he   
   moved his hedge fund to Miami.   
      
   Raising taxes to pay for under-funded public worker pensions and bloated   
   social programs doesn’t help the Land of Lincoln attract talent. The same is   
   true for other blue states. New York Democrats in April 2021 increased the   
   combined state-and-local    
   top income tax rate to 14.8% from 12.7%. It would have been a surprise if   
   taxpayer flight hadn’t increased that year.   
      
   A major problem for high-tax states is that their escapees often pay more in   
   taxes than their newcomers. The IRS data shows that the taxpayers leaving   
   Illinois and New York typically made about $30,000 to $40,000 more than those   
   arriving. Of Illinois’s    
   total out-migration, 28% of the leavers made between $100,000 to $200,000 and   
   23% made $200,000 or more.   
      
   By contrast, the average return of a Florida newcomer in 2021 was about   
   $150,000—more than double that of taxpayers who left. High earners spend   
   more, which yields higher sales tax revenue. This helped Florida post a record   
   $22 billion budget surplus    
   last year. California is forecasting a $29.5 billion deficit.   
      
   All of this income migration helps explain why Florida and other low-tax   
   states lead the country in job growth. Employment grew 4.5% in Florida and   
   4.3% in Texas over the past year compared to 2.5% in California and 2.2% in   
   Illinois. In March the    
   unemployment rate was 5.4% in New York City metro region, 5% in Los Angeles,   
   4.5% in Chicago versus 1.9% in Miami.   
      
   Sorry, Mr. Pritzker. The data is clear that Illinois and other states   
   dominated by progressives are losing human talent in droves to better-governed   
   states.   
      
   https://www.wsj.com/articles/illinois-j-b-pritzker-taxes-states-irs-ec3da356   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)