WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Moody’s, Fitch upgrade state’s credit outlook

LedgerIt sounds like a report from a hospital’s intensive care unit, but the word from two leading national credit-rating agencies deals not with physical well-being, but with the state’s financial health – and the word is good.

That’s a tribute to the budget-writers in the Legislature. They staved off a potentially disastrous government shutdown by reaching an 11th-hour agreement on a 2013-15 spending plan late last month.

The two-year budget not only boosted K-12 funding by $1 billion, it also expanded health care to 300,000 more Washingtonians, repaired the frayed social safety net, and steered the state onto more solid financial footing.

The ratings agencies – Moody’s Investor Service and Fitch Group – upgraded the status of the state’s credit outlook from “negative” to “stable,” state Treasurer Jim McIntire announced this week.

According to McIntire, that should draw more investors to the state’s upcoming bond sale to borrow $860 million.

More bond buyers potentially means a better deal for the state, expressed in lower interest rates for the borrowing – saving the taxpayers’ money via reduced debt-service charges.