Forbes is out with it's 2007 "Best States for Business" rankings, and Montana slipped from 38th in the nation last year to 42nd.  All our surrounding states rank well ahead of Montana: Idaho 6th, North Dakota 9th, South Dakota 25th and Wyoming 29th.  (Any coincidence that Idaho, NoDak, and SoDak rank in the top 25 and all have Republican governors?)

Digging deeper into the comparison, Montana ranked very poorly on the Business Costs Rank compared to our region; this category includes tax burden on business.  Montana came in at 24th, compared to South Dakota 1st, Wyoming 2nd, North Dakota 5th, and Idaho 11th.   Montana also came in last in our region in Growth Prospects Rank and Quality of Life Rank.

We had opportunities to improve our business climate during the last legislative session - all were killed by the Senate Democrats with the backing of the Gov.  In fact, rather than try to improve the tax and regulatory environment businesses must operate within, the administration attempted to increase the tax burden on business!  If we're going to be competitive within our region, something's got to change.