Brutal study ranks the worst governors in America and its terrible news for Gavin Newsom

A new study has ranked the best states for “freedom,” in terms of tax policy, education options, and other personal and fiscal liberties — and the results aren’t kind to California or its governor.The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, ranked states and their leaders based on their support for personal and economic liberties in its “Freedom in the 50 States” report, published Monday.The institute assigned numerical rankings and letter grades based on government spending and taxes, business regulations, and restrictions on building.In the personal freedom category, the study weighed policies like school choice, the right to bear arms, the freedom to make one’s own medical choices, and adherence to the First Amendment.

California was near the bottom — 44th — receiving an “F” grade, or 1.95/10, in the group’s overall freedom score.It was 48th in “economic freedom,” according to the institute, though it fared somewhat better on the personal freedom front, ranking 34th.

Gov.Gavin Newsom himself ranked an abysmal third-to-last, or 48th total, for pushing policies that make the state less free, in the eyes of Cato Institute.“The governor scores might also be best thought of as gauging the direction they are taking their state,” wrote Cato analyst Stephen Slivinski, who authored the study, in a blog post.“If the status quo of a state is already generally pro-liberty and a governor hasn’t done anything to change or damage that, they will receive the same score as the state,” he explained.

“But if a governor is pushing reforms that make the state freer on net—and especially if they are the reason the state is in good shape—they will receive a higher score than the state.” Newsom’s office was contacted for comment.The California governor has been knocked for approving tax hikes, which include two new recently enacted levies on health care and software that were collectively dubbed the “largest tax hike in state his...