Pennsylvania is a beautiful state with much to offer.

That a new "happiest Americans" study has ranked the Keystone State 41st among the 50 states and District of Columbia might come as an unpleasant surprise to many people.

But if the quality of the state government were the sole determining factor for ranking in the study, it's conceivable that this state would be tied with New York for last place.

As Pennsylvania residents are well aware, their state government is a bloated, low-achieving body stifled by partisanship. Meanwhile, as a state grand jury has continued to find, the Legislature has been undermined by a troubling level of illegal activity.

On Dec. 16, at a meeting in Queensbury, N.Y., residents un-leashed their anger and cynicism at their state government, describing it as corrupt, self-dealing and too quick to increase taxes.

While there has been much opposition in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in regard to increasing taxes, the descriptions "corrupt" and "self-dealing" are not an unfair description of what's embedded in the state government in Harrisburg, as depicted by the Bonusgate scandal, the illegal activity of former state Sen. Vincent Fumo, and middle-of-the-night business such as the July 2005 legislative pay-raise vote.

Unfortunately, there probably are some Pennsylvania residents who, reflecting on the way the General Assembly functions, would voice an opinion similar to one offered by a lifelong New York resident at the Dec. 16 Queensbury meeting. The resident said he was ready to flee "this stinkin' state."

Such an opinion would be understandable from people who experienced hardship as a result of this year's long-running budget stalemate.

As Pennsylvania looks toward tonight's entry into the year 2010, a feeling of shame is in order — not because of what Pennsylvania has and what it has to offer, but because of the poor excuse for leadership that permeates the capital.

If the state government has made a New Year's resolution, it ought to be that the mess that exists and the stubborn partisanship that prevents work from being accomplished will give way to productive, efficient government, as it should be.

The troubled condition of the national economy only exacerbated the Keystone State's troubles in 2009. Even with a much brighter national economy, harmony and accomplishment would not have been present.

The sunny states of Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona were the top five states, in that order, in the happiest Americans study. Pennsylvania's low — and probably unfair — ranking wasn't all due to the problems in the government, but it might have fared better if the government were showing that it was cleaning up its act.

— J.R.K.