- Big Eight States
The Big Eight States are generally referenced conversationally by policy wonks from inside the beltway. However, this term occasionally shows up in more general publications such as "Time" magazine [cite web | title=The polls of the nation's popular vote track… | publisher="Time" magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951567,00.html ] or federal program reports. [cite web | title=HHS OIG, Review and Adjustment of Support Orders | url=http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-05-98-00100.pdf ] [cite web | title=TX DHS Quality Control Error Reduction Progress Report | url=http://www.dhs.state.tx.us/publications/ErrorReduction/ErrorReportJune2002.pdf ] [cite web | title=Big Eight Plus One States Meet in San Antonio, Child Support Report Vol. XXIII, No. 4, April 2001 | url=http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2001/csr/csr0104.html ]
The inclusion of a US state in this set is based purely on population numbers in these states. The number 8 is chosen presumably because of a statistically significant gap between these and other states with less population. However, currently, these states represent the only states with a population of 10 million or more. [cite web | title=National and State Population Estimates | url=http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html ]
The Big Eight States are:
*California
*Texas
*New York
*Florida
*Illinois
*Pennsylvania
*Ohio
*Michigan References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.