Lawmakers in state capitols across the country have sown some seeds of progress in reining in corporate welfare. This is an important shift. Corporate welfare fundamentally undermines a free and flourishing economy. It is an insidious use of government power to create special privileges for the well connected few.

Florida had one of the year’s biggest successes. Just before adjourning, the state’s legislators ended a multi-million dollar corporate welfare program in existence since 1996. They did this by simply denying the $250 million in funding Gov. Rick Scott requested for “Enterprise Florida.” Scott and other Florida leaders rightfully want to compete for new businesses and win — there’s nothing wrong with that. But state legislators recognized that funneling tax dollars to politically favored industries and companies — something many states do — is the wrong way to do it.