For all of you Mizzou Tiger fans, please don’t get your hopes up. This No. 1 ranking has nothing to do with college football. According to an article in the Southeast Missourian, a Ball State University study has ranked Missouri as the No. 1 state for manufacturing in the country. Of the 20 categories that the 2008 National Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card took into account, Missouri was placed at the top for low long-term health care costs, health care premiums, and property taxes.

These high marks in health care costs and premiums can be attributed in part to the passage of HB 818, which helped the Show-Me State show the rest of the nation how free-market health insurance reform is done. This bipartisan solution to the state’s health policy dilemma helps put employees in charge, freeing them to choose their own insurance policies, and puts employers in positions where they can now contribute directly to employees’ plans without the burden of mandated contribution amounts. Furthermore, health savings accounts and individual health plans are portable, so employees are protected even in case of employment changes.

Another key factor associated with our manufacturing job growth (which might easily be overlooked) was the massive tort reform legislation that was passed in 2005. The Ball State rankings represent tangible evidence that good things happen when states reform and alter legal systems in an effort to shut down abuses that lead to “jackpot justice.”

In the midst of a poor economic climate and recent cutbacks in various plants, the great state of Missouri still prevails. Great job, Missouri … let’s keep up the good work!