The Tax Foundation released its annual state and local tax burden study today. In the graphic below, the top 10 states in terms of tax burden, as measured by what percentage of state income that taxes consume, are listed in the data table below the x-axis (NY is #1 at 12.8% and NJ #2 at 12.4%). The bars above the axis list the 10 states with the highest level of public worker unionization in the country, by percentage of workers in unions, thanks to research by unionstats.com. Note the remarkable correlation. Eight of the 10 states are on both charts. When you consider how frequently public sector unions campaign for higher taxes, I'd suggest that one, a high degree of government unionization, helps to cause the other.
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