Premier Ben Carroll travelled to Melbourne's northwest on Wednesday during his first official week of election campaigning, where he dodged questions over why Victoria had been named the worst state in the country for doing business.
It comes as leaders continue to argue about whether an election debate will take place.
Released late on Tuesday, a report by the Business Council of Australia's annual Regulation Rumble found high taxes, slow and unnecessary regulation and relatively high unemployment rates continued to weigh heavily on Victorian businesses.
Victoria's failure to address serious challenges had left it with the unwelcome title of the least desirable state to start a business for the third consecutive year, the council's chief executive Bran Black said.
"The same problems we identified last year still exist, particularly around payroll tax, property taxes and business licensing," Mr Black said.
Responding to the report on Wednesday Mr Carroll said the economy was growing.
"I speak with businesses every day, and they say what you are doing in terms of confidence (and) the open door policy for business, is something we deeply appreciate."
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson told reporters on Wednesday it was getting harder and harder to do business in Victoria due to the punishing tax environment.
"I don't think it's a surprise to anyone who runs a business in Victoria that (the state) has been ranked the worst place in the country to do business for the third year in a row."
Victoria remained anchored at the bottom of the list in most categories and slipped from fourth to last on planning.
On the campaign bus on Wednesday morning, the first stop was in Melbourne's northwest, where Labor announced its latest health plan.
Abusive ambulance patients will be stripped of their Ambulance Victoria membership for one year, meaning they would lose their cover for treatment costs, under a re-elected government.
Mr Carroll's wife Fiona Rothville joined journalists on the bus, where she answered questions about whether she was behind some policy decisions.
"I'm very happy to be involved in the campaign, you'll not see me every day. It'll be, you know, a couple of times of the campaign here and there," she said.
"(It's) just to support them and support my family and balance my responsibilities across the state."
One Nation continued to target regional seats with its Wednesday policy announcements, promising a temporary halt on new waste-to-energy facilities to ensure they aren't built too close to homes, schools, hospitals or agricultural land.
Residents in the seats of Lara and Sunbury, west of Melbourne, have pushed back against planned facilities - despite Labor promising a two kilometre buffer between homes and newly proposed facilities.
One Nation deputy leader Colleen Harkin said Labor's buffer doesn't go far enough.
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