Another Ranking of the States, Another Dismal Result for Ohio

Unless someone comes along to take up the mantle I laid down with my bold colors agenda, Ohio will remain a dead state walking.

U.S. News and World Report issued its 2024 Best States Ranking this week. The rankings evaluate every state on these eight factors (in alphabetical order):

• Crime & Corrections;

• Economy;

• Education:

• Fiscal Stability;

• Health Care;

• Infrastructure:

• Natural Environment; and 

• Opportunity

The top state for the second year in a row is Utah. Ohio came in at a dismal #36, placing it firmly in the bottom third for states. It dropped two spots from the 2023 ranking when it was #34 among the states. In terms of the eight categories, Ohio did best for Fiscal Stability (#17—thank God for a balanced budget amendment!!!) and worst for Natural Environment (#41). More problematic, in five out of the eight categories, Ohio landed #30 or below. As the chart shows, in addition to having little natural beauty, Ohio didn’t do well on the Economy (#39), Health Care (#35), Crime & Corrections (#33), or Infrastructure (#30).

Ohio can’t change its natural beauty, but, as a trifecta Republican state, it certainly has control over the other issues. As I’ve long argued, Ohio needs to enact a right-to-work law and repeal Medicaid expansion under Obamacare so it can eliminate the state income tax. Those three major actions would drive Ohio’s ranking on the Economy much higher, as there isn’t a state that has enacted right-to-work and has no state income tax that is lower than #33 Nevada, with most in the top twenty.

On Infrastructure, Ohio simply isn’t an attractive place for businesses given how weak its three major airports are in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. Whether coming here or going somewhere else, business personnel have to fly somewhere to get where they need to go. I’ve proposed eliminating the perennially worthless JobsOhio economic development train wreck and using its funds to build a world class airport in the Greater Columbus Area, as Colorado did with Denver International Airport in 1995. Instead of going big and bold, Ohio’s political leaders are going to double-down on landlocked Port Columbus International Airport by spending $2 billion or more to squeeze in a useless new terminal when the existing terminals are under-utilized. The only way to make Ohio more attractive to businesses and to pump up commercial airline traffic in Ohio is to build a top-notch airport that lures an airline hub or two from weather-slammed and congested Chicago, New York, Boston, and/or Philadelphia. Otherwise, you are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Lastly, though the report didn’t provide the details, I’m sure Ohio’s poor ranking on Health Care is due to two key factors: (1) obesity and (2) fentanyl. After all, given how ubiquitous health care facilities are in Ohio due to the flood of federal Medicare and Medicaid funds (you can’t throw a stone without hitting one), the poor ranking can’t come from lack of access. Rather, partially due to Ohio’s miserable weather for six months out of the year, too few Ohioans get the activity necessary to keep the pounds off, thereby leading to higher heart problems, diabetes, and other weight-related issues.

As I’ve described, as China stole Ohio’s manufacturing jobs and plants beginning in 2000, the places and people left behind by those items became hopeless, resulting in the rise of alcohol and drug use. As the Chinese government and Mexican drug cartels teamed up to pour fentanyl over the porous southern border, Ohio’s overdose deaths skyrocketed to over 50,000 dead since 2010. Outside of the Greater Cincinnati and Columbus Areas, most of Ohio’s counties have hollowed out, with few jobs, declining population, and little opportunity. Not surprisingly, higher crime and incarceration rates followed closely behind the increased drug use. Ohio’s crime rate will only increase once the pot shops get fully set up across our state.

When I explored a run for governor, I had a bold colors agenda aimed squarely at fixing these systemic problems in Ohio. Unfortunately, no other candidate has come close to pushing the same kind of agenda Ohio desperately needs to fix these problems so Ohio rises in the various state rankings. Unless someone comes along to take up the mantle I laid down, Ohio will remain a dead state walking.