Study completed by a think tank in DC on the management of state governments.
Utah, Washington, and Virginia all ranked A-
Utah had only 3 areas where they were considered mid-level while the rest were all high marks.
Washington had 7 mid-marks.
Virginia had 8 mid-marks.
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Grading-the-States-2008.pdf
So that makes our government #1 in the terms of efficiency, organization, budgeting, etc. They focused on 4 general areas of the government – money, information, people, and infrastructure. 2 of our bad marks came because of hiring/workforce issues because our economy grew so fast…
The key thing they mentioned is the high level of transparency that helps with checks and balances to insure against abuses of power. Such as the example where they noticed Dept of Corrections management payrolls so they could take corrective action quickly.
Normally, I notice reports by this. It was completed in March 2008, but I didn’t see any attention given to it by mass media outlets. A lot of good things about Utah get overlooked because it’s not sexy news and well…I guess people just don’t want to hear it. They would like to have ideas that we’re all crazy out here in the west! 
Our state officials have done a wonderful job!
If you’d like to learn more about moving to St. George, Utah – please contact me. It’s a great area to invest, live, work, and play!
