Pennsylvania ‘freer’ than most other states, report says

One of the meanings of “freedom,” as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the quality or state of being free.”

And a new report has claimed that Pennsylvania is “freer” when compared to most other states.

The Center Square reports how the Cato Institute — “a public policy research organization…that creates a presence for and promotes libertarian ideas in policy debates” — published a report which measured “Freedom in the 50 States.”

This report was based upon laws and regulations that impact a resident’s personal, regulatory, and financial liberties, such as “civil asset forfeiture” as well as marriage and gun rights.

Overall, Pennsylvania ranked among the top 20 in the 18th spot.

“The Keystone State is freer than all its neighbors and also better than most other states,” the report’s analysis reads. “Pennsylvania does particularly well on fiscal policy, where it is a top-five state.

“Regulatory policy drags down the commonwealth’s economic freedom score and is an area ripe for improvement. Pennsylvania also suffers from a middling record on personal freedom, coming in at number 34.”

The freest state of them all — New Hampshire — excels greatly in both economic and personal freedom, although the Cato Institute notes it could improve on its regulatory policies.

Then there’s New York which — perhaps to not a lot of people’s surprise — scored the 50th slot as the “the worst state for freedom” due to its economic, regulatory, and personal restrictions, a status its had “every year” since the Cato Institute began collecting data in 2000.

“New York’s terrible economic freedom score is going to continue to drag the state down — and harm its ability to realize its full economic potential,” the report states.