Strange headline over this story in Stateline.org: Despite red ink, some governors push big tax cuts for businesses.

A less skeptical editor might have written, “because of red ink, some governors use tax policy to stimulate investment and job creation.” Because, well, that’s what the story is about. Governors from New York to Florida, Idaho to New Jersey, have turned thumbs down on new taxes, while looking hard for ways to make their states more attractive to corporations ready to expand.

Here’s how the Tax Foundation summarizes the trend:

“It seems counterintuitive to people, but it’s good to see (governors) being proactive,” says Kail Padgitt, an economist at the Tax Foundation, which advocates for lower tax rates. “We’ve seen signs that the economy is recovering, albeit slowly, and I think these (governors) are realizing that businesses are going to look to expand. Taxes are something they’re going to take into consideration.”

In the Olympian, Brad Shannon notes the findings of Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and a citizens’ commission, which has systematically reviewed tax exemptions.

Lawmakers have let only four tax breaks expire since the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee and a citizen commission on tax breaks began reviewing the state’s more than 500 exemptions in 2006.

Ninety-five favorable tax rates have been reviewed – starting with the oldest ones, enacted in 1891 – and those eliminated were worth just $5.7 million a year.

Shannon reports that Sen. Phil Rockefeller would like to see more repealed, but hasn’t specified which or when.

We’ll be looking more closely at exemption policies over the next few weeks. Generally, though, as I’ve written before, the call for repeal is more rhetorical than realistic.