The Largest EV Factory in the World is Built in Laura Kelly's Kansas as Roy Cooper's North Carolina is Ranked Best State in the Nation to Do Business

     Governor Laura Kelly is quite possibly the best governor in Kansas history. Last week, the Democratic Governor's Association did a profile on the record $9 billion in private sector investments in Kansas during her tenure, and it's easy to see why. She has balanced the state budget and begun to pay off the state debt while still managing to fully fund the state's schools and other critical services for the first time in years, invest in infrastructure, and deliver historic middle class tax cuts, most notably when she phased out the food tax that was unique to only a handful of states. Once considered a below-average state for business, Kansas is now considered above average as its unemployment rate drops to just over two percent, the lowest in its history and among the lowest in the nation, and it wins the prestigious Golden Shovel Award for the second year in a row after winning the Silver Shovel in 2020 and not even qualifying before Governor Kelly took office.

     That was before the economic news that came for the state this week. Panasonic announced that it would be constructing the largest electric vehicle battery factory in the world right in Kansas, a $4 billion investment that will create 4,000 jobs. This also represents the largest economic development project in Kansas state history, nearly 50 percent of what Governor Kelly was able to attract to Kansas in the prior three years combined, bringing the total to more than $13 billion and setting the state on track to achieve an unemployment rate of beneath two percent, which will make it one of only a handful of states in the nation to ever achieve this feat.

     On the same day, the 2022 rankings for the best state to do business were released. The idea that blue states are bad for business is hilarious. Yes, Texas made it in the top five for the best states to do business in, but so did deep blue Colorado and Washington. Virginia made the list thanks to the efforts of Governor Ralph Northam, whose impeccable economic progress Republican hack Glenn Youngkin inherited. The state that made the top of the list was North Carolina, run by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who has mobilized bipartisan support to attract business to the state at unprecedented levels, including numerous major economic developments producing microchips and clean energy technology, both of which are Democratic priorities. That is on top of his being the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, the man who ungerrymandered the state and flipped it from red to purple, the governor who is on track to legalize medical marijuana and expand Medicaid, and much more.

     This is a pattern we are seeing across the country. Another prime example is Kentucky: this red state run by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear achieved its lowest unemployment rate in state history, its highest economic growth rate in over 30 years, and the largest investments in the state economy in history, all with a legislature that hasn't been able to achieve the same level of bipartisan cooperation with its governor that North Carolina has seen. (To be fair, North Carolina didn't see this bipartisan cooperation until Governor Cooper began his second term, so there may still be hope for the young Governor Beshear yet.) I previously highlighted how California and New York are on track to achieve lower unemployment rates than Texas is. Soon, I'll be explaining further why Republicans are no longer a pro-business party, but merely an anti-American one.