Is it California, the left's bizarre alternative universe?
Is it Illinois, the poster child for big-government excess?
Nope, not even close. As a matter of fact, those two jurisdictions are among the 10-least dependent states.

And if you're guessing that the answer is New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, or some other "blue state," that would be wrong as well.

Instead, if you check out this map from the Tax Foundation, the answer is Mississippi, followed by Louisiana, Tennessee, Montana, and Kentucky. All of which are red states!

So does this mean that politicians in red states are hypocrites who like big government so long as someone else is paying?

That's one way of interpreting the data, and I'm sure it's partially true. But for a more complete answer, let's look at the Tax Foundation's explanation of its methodology. Here's part of what Morgan Scarboro wrote.

State governments…receive a significant amount of assistance from the federal government in the form of federal grants-in-aid. Aid is given to states for Medicaid, transportation, education, and other means-tested entitlement programs administered by the states. …states…that rely heavily on federal assistance…tend to have modest tax collections and a relatively large low-income population."