June 24, 2015

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

When I was a graduate student in the 1960s, my professors pointed to Minnesota as a model state—corruption free, collaborative, with values of what’s good for the community trumping what’s in it for me.
These memories from days long past were prompted by a recent column from Eric Zorn in the Chicago Tribune about how Minnesota has its act together, while Illinois struggles, to say the least.
Zorn noted that Minnesota in 2011 upped its highest income tax rate to 9.85 percent for those earning over $250,000 (the rate in Illinois is a flat 3.75 percent). Nevertheless, in 2014 conservative Forbes magazine ranked Minnesota ninth best for business while it put Illinois at 40th.
On all indicators I could put my hands on, our northern neighbor ranked ahead of Illinois. For example, a 2014 ranking of quality of life factors such as health, public safety and income put Minnesota in second place (after New Hampshire) while Illinois was smack dab in the middle among the states.
Social media site Wallet Hub recently looked at 26 metrics such as emotional health and sports participation and came up with a “happiness index.” Minnesota came in second, after Utah, while the Prairie State was again right in the middle, at 25th.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.