Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Through political action, legal, academic and market research, and grassroots initiatives, TLR fights for common-sense reforms that keep Texas open for business.

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In the News

The Best States For Business 2018: Behind The Numbers

Forbes, November 28, 2018

By: Kurt Badenhausen

North Carolina ranks on top of Forbes’ Best States for Business for the second straight year. Our 13th annual ranking measures six categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. We factor in 41 metrics from 17 sources to determine the ranks across the six main areas. The overall ranks are based on a combination of ranks in the six main categories. Below is a breakdown of each category with the best and worst performer, along with the data sources.

Business Costs
No. 1 State: South Dakota; No. 50 State: Massachusetts

Business costs incorporate Moody’s Analytics Cost of Doing Business index which includes labor, energy and taxes. Moody’s weighs labor costs the most heavily in its index. We also included a state tax index from the Tax Foundation that launched in 2012 and was updated in 2016. The “Location Matters” study looks at the tax burden on businesses in each state across different industries. Business costs, labor supply and regulatory environment are equally weighted in the overall rankings.

Labor Supply
No. 1 State: Colorado; No. 50 State: West Virginia

Labor supply measures college and high school attainment based on figures from the Census Bureau. We also consider net migration over the past five years and the projected population growth over the next five years. Other factors are the percentage of the workforce that is represented by a union and the percent of the population between the ages of 25 and 34.

Regulatory Environment
No. 1 State: Virginia; No. 50 State: Alaska

Regulatory environment includes metrics influenced by the government. We incorporate the regulatory component of the “Freedom in the 50 States” report from the Cato Institute. It considers the liability system, property rights, health insurance, and the labor market. We also factor in an index from Pollina Corporate Real Estate that measures tax incentives and the economic development efforts of each state. Other data points include Moody’s bond rating on the state’s general obligation debt and the transportation infrastructure including air, highway and rail.

Other factors in the regulatory component are a measure of the best and worst legal climates for businesses compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. Seventy percent of general counsels who participate in the survey say a state’s lawsuit environment impacts decisions such as where to locate or expand. Another factor was a state’s fiscal health based on a study from the Mercatus Center that examines short and long-term debt and other key fiscal obligations.

Finally, we measured laws that protect people from employment discrimination based on sexual and/or gender identity. The state ratings were supplied by the Movement Advancement Project

Economic Climate
No. 1 State: California; No. 50 State: Alaska

The economic climate category gauges job, income and gross state product growth as well as average unemployment during the past five years. Other metrics include the average 2018 unemployment rate and the number of the 1,000 biggest public and private companies by revenue headquartered in the state.

Growth Prospects
No. 1 State: Texas; No. 50 State: Mississippi

Growth prospects measures job, income and gross state product growth forecasts over the next five years from Moody’s Analytics. We also factor in Emsi’s “bottom-up” job forecasting approach, which compliments Moody’s “top-down” forecasts. Another metric was venture capital investments per the PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree survey with data from Thomson Reuters. The final data point in the category is startup activity as tracked by the Kauffman Foundation.

Quality of Life
No. 1 State: Virginia; No. 50 State: Alaska

Quality of life takes into account cost of living from Emsi, school test performance via the Department of Education and crime rates from the FBI. We factored in the mean temperature in the state as a proxy for the weather and the number of top-ranked four-year colleges in the state from Forbes’ annual college rankings. We considered the culture and recreational opportunities in the state based on an index created by Bert Sperling, as part of our annual Best Places for Business and Careers. Other factors: commute times from the U.S. Census and the United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings.

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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

8 hours ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

Over the past two years, local officials in states nationwide have filed so-called “public nuisance” lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, arguing they should be held financially responsible for climate-change impacts such as sea level rise. Read and share: bit.ly/2BBwiLe ... See MoreSee Less

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Cooperation, not lawsuits, right way forward for Florida on climate

tortreform.com

The reality is that, having experienced a string of losses, trial attorneys are now shopping around for new plaintiffs to push their flawed legal theory. Even if that means finding ...
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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

1 day ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

The commission said attorney Omar Weaver Rosales engaged in dishonest and frivolous litigation by threatening to sue website operators for baseless ADA violations unless they paid him $2,000 to go away. Rosales has thus far succeeded in beating back the commission’s effort to sanction him, convincing a trial judge to dismiss the complaint as a violation of the Texas Citizens Participation Act, the state’s anti-SLAPP statute barring litigation found to be in violation of a defendant’s “right to free speech, right to petition, or right of association.” Read more here: bit.ly/2TTuC76 ... See MoreSee Less

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State Bar to Ask Appeals Court to Revive Discipline Case Against Austin Lawyer

tortreform.com

A panel of Texas’ Third District Court of Appeals judges will hear arguments Tuesday in a case pitting the State Bar of Texas’ Commission for Lawyer Discipline against an Austin lawyer fig...
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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

2 days ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

The 86th Legislative Session has begun and the latest issue of the TLR Advocate is in mailboxes now! Read about some of the legislative priorities TLR is working on and catch up today on the latest with storm-chasing lawyers, climate change lawsuits and more. Read and share: bit.ly/2V2PM2P ... See MoreSee Less

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TLR Advocate February 2019

tortreform.com

After more than two decades of tort reforms enacted by the Texas Legislature, it is time to give increased attention to the organization and efficiency of the Texas court system.
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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
4h

TLR has proposals to rationalize our court system to make it more administratively efficient, to improve access to justice, & to have cases resolved in less time & with less expense. Read & RT the latest issue of the TLR Advocate: #txlege

TLR Advocate February 2019

After more than two decades of tort reforms enacted by the Texas Legislature, it is time to give increased attention to the organization and efficienc...

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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
6h

The TLR Speaker's Bureau is available to address business, professional or civic groups in communities across the state. Book a TLR speaker today!

Invite a TLR Speaker

TLR’s Speaker’s Bureau has volunteers available across the state to speak at your group’s next meeting. These engaging presentations...

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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
8h

The past two years local officials in states nationwide have filed “public nuisance” lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, arguing they should be financially responsible for climate-change impacts. Read & RT: #lawsuitreform

Cooperation, not lawsuits, right way forward for Florida on climate

The reality is that, having experienced a string of losses, trial attorneys are now shopping around for new plaintiffs to push their flawed legal theo...

bit.ly

Reply on TwitterRetweet on TwitterLike on TwitterTwitter

Texans for Lawsuit Reform
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All rights reserved.
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