Are states with more economic freedom in better fiscal condition?

The answer appears to be "yes."  States with more economic freedom seem to be in much better shape fiscally.  The Mercatus Center's measure of state Fiscal Conditions has been getting some attention this weekend.  I thought that it would be interesting to see whether Democrats or Republicans have been doing a better job running their states, but it seemed easier to look at Mercatus' measure of economic freedom.  The causation isn't clear, but there is a strong, statistically significant relationship between the two.