As we have all read, Governor Rick Perry of Texas has embarked upon a major campaign to entice businesses from New York and several adjoining states to relocate to Texas. Through direct mail pieces, TV ads, and an upcoming personal visit, Perry is touting the advantages of relocating to his state, which offers business-friendly regulations, plus a pro-growth policy of zero state or corporate income taxes. He has run similar campaigns in both California and Illinois, which are proving to be quite successful. In this particular case, however, there is another dynamic in play: Governor Perry has now positioned himself to be in direct competition for the bounty of the north against his friend, fellow Republican, and the chief recruiter for Florida, Governor Rick Scott.

The states of the northeast, and in particular New York, have historically been a fertile breeding ground for Florida’s incoming wealth. With all of the migration from New York to Florida, many a Jets or Giants fan has been heard actually touting Florida as “New York’s sixth borough.”

According to newly expanded data from www.howmoneywalks.com, now spanning a nearly 20-year timeframe from 1992 to 2010, the Sunshine State gained $95.61 billion in net adjusted gross income, as defined by the IRS. The state of New York was far and away the largest contributor to Florida’s windfall, sending nearly $19 billion to the Sunshine State. Texas, on the other hand, while gaining $25 billion nationally, only gained $1.66 billion directly from the Empire State. With the tax burdens only increasing across the state, it is a sure bet that the migration of dollars will escalate even further. So it looks like all bets are off, and the Great State of Texas wants a bigger piece of Florida’s action!

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Mark Randall, Motorola senior vice-president of supply chain and operations, cites existing infrastructure, a large tech-savvy talent pool, and a very business-friendly tax environment as some of his reasons for this move. It certainly bears mentioning that Texas has neither a personal nor corporate income tax. This will mark the first time smart phones have been manufactured in the United States, and will bring with it an estimated 2,000 jobs. Texas is now home to a mix of larger companies and young entrepreneurs. As you might expect, they are coming in droves from Illinois, California, and other high-tax tech centers around the country.

California Governor Jerry Brown may pontificate about the growing economy and favorable business climate of his state. He may heatedly deny the fact that companies are pulling up stakes and fleeing California because of oppressive tax policies. He may try desperately to convince his constituents that raising taxes even higher is for the general good. But the bloviating isn’t working, businesses aren’t buying it and their exodus from California rolls on.

Following in the wake of Motorola’s move, Raytheon Space and Airborne has announced that is now moving its headquarters staff from El Segundo, California to McKinney, Texas. This is yet another in a list of high-profile corporations fleeing California. While Texas gains only 200 jobs in this move, Raytheon plans to condense its six business units into four by merging two units and eliminating one. As part of that reorganization, Integrated Communication Systems and Advanced Programs will be folded into Space and Airborne Systems, so there is no telling how many new jobs will be generated in the long run.

Since the most recent election and the approval of Proposition 30, plus Governor Perry’s recruiting efforts, the city of Austin, Texas, has experienced a doubling or even tripling of relocation inquiries from California companies. Once again in 2013, more than 500 CEOs have ranked Texas as the best state in which to do business, according to Chief Executive magazine’s annual Best and Worst States survey. Texas has held this position for nine years in a row. CEO rankings take into consideration many factors, including regulations, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living, and infrastructure.

No matter how you look at it, the name of Texas is coming up often in California boardrooms, and in a vernacular you would expect from a proud Texan: “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.”

As the economy in California worsens – and is now further compounded by the recent passage of Proposition 30, which drops yet another tax bomb on the remaining populace – it is a sure bet that even more Californians have reached their limit and are poised to jump ship. Tired of the business bashing, two dozen more companies have now committed to leaving the Golden State. With their decisions made, the biggest question in many a board room is undoubtedly: Which state will give us the best opportunity for growth, a plentiful skilled workforce, and a fair tax environment to boost our bottom line?

With all of this potential revenue at stake, it is little wonder that the competition would heat up between governors to lure California’s discontented businesspeople. Florida Governor Rick Scott is one of several governors who are heavily engaged in the fight to bring these businesses into their state. Two of the greatest recipients of the migrating wealth in the past have been the states of Texas and Florida. Texas gained $22 billion, but Florida has gained the lion’s share, at $86.4 billion. Florida is one of nine states that can tout zero personal income tax, and it is prepared to offer lucrative tax incentive packages to potential new employers.

Governor Scott has made job creation his top priority since coming into office. While his sights are clearly and overtly fixed on snagging California businesses, no state is off limits. In addition to his direct outreach to California, Florida’s “Recruiter in Chief” recently sent letters to the top 100 companies in Illinois, encouraging them to buy a one-way ticket to his state. Just recently, the governor announced that the Hertz Corporation will be relocating its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to southwest Florida. In addition, an increasing number of financial firms, such as private equity and hedge funds, are fleeing New York’s sky-high city and state tax rates and relocating to the welcoming, business-friendly climate in Florida’s southeastern Palm Beach County.

All 50 states are vying for a greater piece of the $2 trillion bonanza of wealth moving between the states, but only a handful can offer the tax advantages and quality of life of Florida. Governor Scott is on a mission to carry that message throughout the country, and as the facts show, he is succeeding.

Recent data provided by Politifact Florida shows that more than 1,000 people per day are now relocating to Florida. Moody’s estimates that the population in Florida will grow by 360,000 in 2013. Referencing census numbers, Florida Governor Rick Scott recently told CNN that 230,000 new residents had arrived in 2012. Pretty astounding numbers, especially when you consider that these are net migration gains: people coming minus people going. That makes for a lot of moving vans traveling south on I-95, filled with people, their wealth, and their earning potential.

But there are even more interesting facts. This past summer, based again on US Census data, Florida’s population hit 19.3 million, while New York’s came in at 19.6 million. It is estimated that Florida will soon edge out New York as the third-most populous state in the nation. Only births and new immigrants kept New York’s population from falling even lower. Not to single out New York, but apparently an increasing number of New Yorkers either can’t afford to remain in their home state due to high taxes, or can’t find work there and are moving to states with friendlier business climates to seek new opportunities.

Why Florida? Your first thought might be trading in your snow blower for a jet ski, but that is only one part of it. Even higher on the list is economic freedom from the high-tax states up north. Florida, after all, is one of only nine states with zero personal income tax. This means that if you move from New York or New Jersey, you can keep nearly 9 percent more of your paycheck, and have 9 percent more buying power. Obviously states that allow residents to keep more of their money and run businesses without undue burdens create higher personal income growth and draw steady streams of people from other states. In the category of gained AGI revenue, Florida stands as number one.

Along with this influx of population comes the need to build the infrastructure and facilities necessary to support it. Providing for these needs spells “j-o-b-s.” Florida’s unemployment rate in April fell to 7.2 percent, down from March’s 7.5%. Job growth in Florida has been moving in a positive direction for the past 21 months.

As we all remember, during the great recession of 2008, the real estate market was essentially frozen. No matter how discontent people were with the tax burdens of their home states, the simple fact for many was that if they couldn’t sell their home, or their business, moving away was just not an option. But today, all that is beginning to change. Property values are increasing and homes are again selling. People have liquid assets again and are free to seek out the best environment in which build their businesses, create wealth, and raise their families. While Florida’s $86.4 billion in AGI gain over fifteen years is certainly impressive, it may pale in comparison to what the Sunshine State stands to gain over the next fifteen.

The good news: We don’t have to rely on vague studies and guesswork, because we have unimpeachable Internal Revenue Service and United States Census Bureau dating back to 1995. After analyzing 134 million individual taxpayer records for our How Money Walks book and applications, we learned that people certainly do move to low- or no-income-tax states, where they can earn, save, and re-invest more money.

As the Herald article itself noted, Minnesota has the fourth-highest income tax rate in the entire nation. At the end of this year’s legislative session, Minnesota further cemented its reputation as a high-tax state; under the new state budget, the top tax rate in Minnesota is now a whopping 9.85 percent, a full two percentage points higher than the previous 7.85 percent.

What might happen now that Minnesota’s top income tax is near 10 percent? Here, the IRS and U.S. Census Bureau data can be very illuminating. An examination of this data, collected over the 15-year period between 1995 and 2010, shows that Minnesota lost more than $4.1 billion in net adjusted gross income – and that’s before the recent hike.

Money goes where it is treated best, so it’s no surprise that Minnesota lost much of its wealth to states with no income tax. Over that fifteen-year period, Minnesota lost $2.139 billion to Florida (no income tax), $1.006 billion to Arizona (no income tax) and $365.49 million to Texas (no income tax there, either).

The Herald article claims there is no correlation between high taxes and people moving to lower-tax states, but the numbers show otherwise. The top rate of 9.85 percent kicks in at an income level of $150,000, making Minnesota unattractive to small business owners and professionals. What’s more, those who do stay in Minnesota may offset their losses by reducing their charitable giving to philanthropic organizations. When a state’s too-high income tax affects the bottom line of nonprofits, no one wins.

By way of contrast, Minnesota’s neighboring state of South Dakota is gaining both wealth and residents, thanks largely to its income tax rate of zero percent. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation ranks South Dakota as the state with the second-lowest tax burden in the nation.

Between 1995 and 2010, Minnesota lost $174.2 million to South Dakota. This figure is particularly staggering when we consider the fact that Minnesota’s population is nearly 6.5 times larger than South Dakota’s. Clearly, wealth in the Upper Midwest is going where it is treated best – to a no-income-tax, pro-growth state like South Dakota.

In order to be competitive, Minnesota must work toward real reform that does not disproportionately punish work. The state’s diverse economy and world-class institutions should make it an attractive place for families and businesses, and a dynamic approach to real tax reform would expedite Minnesota’s success.

During the past few months, our book tour team has had the privilege of sharing many American stories, thanks to the Internal Revenue Service data file and the United States Census Bureau.  Our experience shows precisely how more than 40 million Americans have moved locations in efforts to move up the economic ladder.

Entrepreneur Travis H. Brown backs his points on taxes with data from the How Money Walks application during an airing of The Wilkow Majority.

This week, we joined the Wilkow Report at the nexus of national radio: Sirius XM headquarters in New York City.  On one floor, Sirius is like a musical carnival.  There is one studio after another, Shade45 hip hop right down the hallway from Patriot channel.  The only thing more exciting than the 36-floor elevator ride (where you are certain to ride up with some worldly musicians) is the inner sanctum of broadcasting suites and audio rooms.

Missouri Lobbyist Travis H. Brown engages with radio host Andrew Wilkow on taxes during The Wilkow Majority.

Radio reminds authors like me that our message is personal and local. Each week, we have spoken by radio to taxpayers who place faces and names behind our self-evident messages.  Within this studio, I recall the late-night truck driver moving through Montana, calling in to talk taxes. When I returned to this studio, I overheard just how incensed some taxpayers are to learn about how their money is spent in Washington, DC.

Every form of media outreach has its advantages and drawbacks. For the two-thirds of the world who are visual learners, nothing beats Internet television or studio television.  However, with most TV programs, time is often in short supply.

While our smartphone applications, web maps, and touchscreen television technologies are not accessible to a radio audience, radio like Sirius XM does offer some advantages.  First, radio across America can allow us to find many busy or passive audiences.  Second, oftentimes, joining a syndicated producer like the Wilkow Report on radio allows us to drill down on more examples.  For example, on this week’s program, we were able to detail how Californians choose Las Vegas over Phoenix when they pack their bags.  When a radio producer wants to talk about a home state, we can have a true dialogue rather than merely rapid-fire questions.

Entrepreneur Travis H. Brown backs his points on taxes with data from the How Money Walks application during an airing of The Wilkow Majority.

My experience with radio programs is that they are most interesting when they include multiple conversations.  Another late night show that I recently enjoyed was in Minneapolis.  When you can banter back and forth much like we talk amongst our closest friends, something special happens. Each of us feels more connected, more human, and even more relevant.

Our fast-paced world can sometimes make everything feel a bit too shallow.  A celebrity once pointed out that her regular appearances on a reality show helped reveal her full and true personality.  Authors and advocates who make the extra effort to visit America’s great radio outlets can do the same – siriusly.

While there is mixed support from online retailers, the main hurdle for implementing an online sales tax has always been the mechanics of it. Naysayers cite the fact that of the 45 states that currently have a sales tax, all have different sales tax rates, and different rates for different products. In many cases, there are variations within counties and cities as well. Online retailers see this as an administrative nightmare. Of course, they also see it as losing their competitive edge over brick-and-mortar stores, since many consumers head to the Internet to avoid paying a sales tax.

With all of the money at stake, states have pressured Congress to act. On May 6, 2013, the U.S. Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act. The act is intended to make it a smooth and equitable process for states to collect their piece of the pie. President Obama said he will sign the legislation, but there is still one significant hurdle: the conservative majority in the House may block its passage. Let’s assume for the moment that the bill makes it through the House and actually becomes a law. How responsible will the states be in using this windfall? After researching the various states and exploring their current fiscal conditions and mindsets, you could almost guess the answers.

After years of excess spending and supporting large entitlement programs, many states will undoubtedly use the money to try to plug shortfalls in their budgets. There will be no effort to eliminate anything – just attempts throw more money at it. Other states will dig the hole even deeper by using the money on more wasteful spending programs. But there are also several “stars” in this scenario. These are states that would use the money to improve their competitive standing on a national level. One such state, which has made headlines for taking tough and often unpopular steps to rein in spending and balance its budget, is the State of Wisconsin.

In the period from 1995 through 2010, Wisconsin lost more than $2.51 billion in outward wealth migration to states with more attractive tax structures. The largest winners in this shuffling of funds have been Texas and, to a greater extent, Florida. Neither of these states has any state income tax, and both also have other business-friendly policies. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker wants to join those ranks, and he sees that one way to do it is by eliminating Wisconsin’s state income tax. The biggest challenge in getting legislation like this approved is to maintain revenue neutrality in the process. Generally speaking, this is done by raising taxes in other areas, such as increased sales tax rates, property taxes, etc. These steps are often strongly opposed for being unfair to the poor, and that line of argument usually stops the process in its tracks.

Governor Walker plans to take a far more responsible course in using the additional dollars. Should the online sales tax come to pass, he would use his estimated $95 million to help mitigate these concerns by reducing the negative impact. As a result, the governor may finally achieve his goal of eliminating the state income tax and making the State of Wisconsin a recipient of this migrating national wealth, rather than the victim of it.