In fact, not having one of the three main taxes - corporate income tax, personal income tax or sales tax - was a defining trait of all the states in the group's top 10 list.

"Taxes affect business decisions, job creation and retention, plant location, competitiveness, and the long-term health of a state's economy," the foundation said in its report.

"If taxes take a larger portion of profits, that cost is passed along to either consumers (through higher prices), workers (through lower wages or fewer jobs), or shareholders (through lower dividends or share value). Thus a state with lower tax costs will be more attractive to business investment."

That total includes more than 60,000 disaster loans to homeowners and renters for about $4 billion, and more than 15,400 loans to businesses for roughly $1.4 billion.

Although it may seem odd that the SBA has approved more money for homeowners and renters than it has for businesses, providing disaster aid for both groups is part of the agency's charter.

The SBA said it has approved $1 billion more for hurricane relief than it did for the 1994 earthquake in California, the previous record holder. And the agency has processed the same number of loan applications - about 250,000 - in the six months since the hurricanes that it processed in the year after the earthquake.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Wednesday that he has introduced a bill that would give tax breaks to small firms that buy cars and trucks powered by alternative fuels.

"The tax code shouldn't favor SUVs over alternative energy cars for business owners," Mr. Grassley said in a statement. "The purchase of either kind of vehicle will help business growth, especially for small businesses, which create most of the nation's jobs."

The bill would provide incentives for electric vehicles, hybrids that run on both gasoline and electricity, and cars powered by fuels such as compressed natural gas.

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