Florida's business rep takes another hit

Here's another news bulletin Gov. Charlie Crist probably won't turn into a Crist for U.S. Senate press release: Florida dropped 10 spots on Forbes magazine's “Best States for Business” list.

When the list was last published in 2006, Florida ranked eighth, behind such states as Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, which tend to always rank high on pro-business lists. But this year, Florida has dropped from top 10 to mediocrity, behind states such as Montana, Iowa and Kansas.

The magazine looks at six categories in coming up with its rankings: Business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. The survey looks at 33 data points in those categories from nine sources.