Nathan Humphrey, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, released the following statement in response to the strong showing by Georgia in the 8th edition of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Rich States, Poor States” report, released today:

“This report shows that Georgia in general, and Governor Deal, in particular, understand what it takes to create an environment where small businesses can expand and create jobs. They understand that the best way to help small, family businesses is by reducing taxes, enacting sensible regulations and then stepping out of their way.”

Georgia is No. 7 in the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Outlook Rankings for 2015. That’s up from No. 9 in last year’s report. [Download the report here: http://www.alec.org/publication/rich-states-poor-states/]

“Governor Deal and legislative leaders have worked hard to make Georgia a better place for small businesses as well as big corporations,” Humphrey said. Under Deal’s leadership, Georgia has reduced taxes on small businesses, repaired the state’s broken unemployment system, balanced the state budget while avoiding a tax increase and maintaining Georgia’s AAA bond rating and eliminated Georgia’s estate tax, also known as the death tax, making it easier for entrepreneurs to pass family businesses to their children and grandchildren.

“There were members of the legislature who opposed these changes, but this report confirms what small businesses already knew: That the governor and legislative leaders are leading us in the right direction,” Humphrey said.

NFIB/Georgia is the state’s leading small-business association with 7,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of the state’s economy. Learn more at www.NFIB.com/GA or follow @NFIB_GA on Twitter.