California has the least friendly policy environment for small businesses, according to a new report on policy measures and costs impacting small businesses.
California has landed on another naughty list, ranking as the state with the least friendly policy environment for small businesses, according to report from an advocacy organization.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council annually ranks the 50 states based on policy measures and costs impacting small businesses. For the second year in a row, California ranked No. 50.
South Dakota topped the list.
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"Quite simply, the states are compared and ranked according to how state and local government policies impact costs and incentives for entrepreneurship and investment," Raymond J. Keating, author of the study and chief economist for the Virginia-based organization, said in a news release.
The rankings consider a variety of tax, regulatory and government spending measures.
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In a summary, the council explains, "Small businesses in California face a formidable array of policy costs, including the highest state personal income and individual capital gains taxes; high corporate income and capital gains levies; the highest gas tax; high electricity and workers´ compensation costs. The only positives are no death tax and the lowest unemployment taxes."
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy and research group.
In October, the Golden State also landed at No. 48 on a list for tax climate. And in May, a group of CEOS ranked California as the worst state for business. In April, the state also landed at the bottom of a list for states and their frienlieness to business. But in an illustration that these lists aren't definitive, California ranked No. 10 as a place to do business, in terms of helping companies relocate.
