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Yes, we are living in the Nanny State
Study finds New Yorkers have relatively less "personal freedom'' but pay the highest taxes in U.S.

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
First published in print: Monday, March 23, 2009

Maybe we ought to just admit it and change the state's nickname from the Empire State to the Nanny State.
     
We've all seen the studies showing how New York tops the nation when it comes to taxes.

But now comes a survey showing that not only do New Yorkers pay a steep economic price to live here; we also give up a lot of personal freedom.

"New York is the least free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, and Maryland,'' according to "Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom.''

By contrast, New Hampshire lives up to its ''Live Free or Die'' motto, topping the list of free states, followed closely by Colorado, South Dakota, Idaho and Texas.

Compiled by two scholars, Jason Sorens of the University at Buffalo and William Ruger of Texas State University, the study goes beyond the tightly focused assessments of recent years, which have amply illustrated New York's high taxes. In addition to the tax burden, Sorens and Ruger looked at dozens of state laws and regulations to develop a "personal freedom'' index as well as an economic index. The survey was done for George Mason University's Mercatus Center, which Sorens describes as nonpartisan but with a free market orientation.

Sorens says he's comfortable being labeled as a libertarian. He made headlines in 2001 while a graduate student at Yale University when he founded the "Free State Movement,'' an effort to get at least 20,000 people to move to New Hampshire, where they would then shift the political culture toward libertarian goals. That effort continues but he concedes progress has been slower than he had hoped.

Labels aside, Sorens stressed that the freedom scale is based on analysis of both well-known and obscure public policies. Included are obvious measures such as drug or gun laws as well as prohibitions on gambling and prostitution.

New York falls in the middle on those measures. But the state loses points in less obvious areas such as education or insurance regulations. Home-schoolers have to jump through too many hoops, said Sorens. Also, the state doesn't allow parents to send students to school outside of their home districts, which some traditionally liberal states like Minnesota allow.

In health insurance, Sorens notes that health policies in New York have to include coverage for contraception, even for 80-year-old people who are unlikely to need it. Coverage for hospice care is likewise required, even for healthy 20-year-olds.

It's one of many rules and regulations that are designed to ensure a level playing field or "redistribution of wealth,'' Sorens says.

That's OK, but why not simply give the poor, old or sickly a cash grant to help buy health insurance? The current system in New York, he said, has grown overly complex due to the influence of powerful lobbying groups — each pushing its own narrow agenda. Even lobbyists agree that they wield a lot of power.

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