Bond Rating Agencies Say Maine Economy Improving

May 14, 2007

AUGUSTA—The Democratic Leaders in the Maine Senate, today, said they were pleased to learn that three of Wall Street’s major bond rating agencies were either upgrading or giving Maine stable economic ratings.

Standard and Poors (S&P) said that they will be upgrading Maine from AA- to AA. An official report was not available at the time of this release. Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service (Moody’s) has assigned a rating of Aa3 with a stable outlook to the State of Maine's upcoming sale of General Obligation Bonds. Another bonding house, Fitch Ratings, also said Maine’s outlook is stable and gave Maine a AA rating.

In a prepared statement, Moody’s says, “Maine's financial operations have improved in recent years reflecting management's efforts to control spending and rebuild balances depleted during the recession. At the same time, the state has stepped up its spending on K-12 education as mandated by a citizens' initiative approved in 2004.”

Senate President Edmonds said, "It's great news to hear the bond rating agencies are improving Maine's standing. We've worked hard for better fiscal responsibility, and now we can see the benefit of our efforts."

“The big three bond rating agencies, Moody’s, S & P, and Fitch, told us three years ago there were better ways to improve Maine’s economy and make our state more attractive to investors on Wall Street,” said Senator Mitchell.

“We took their advice, and created a $100 million rainy day fund for bad economic times, made significant investments in K-12 education, and put our state on good path to reducing our overall debt. We are very pleased our plan for Maine’s economy is paying off and hope to convince our Republican colleagues during our ongoing state budget negotiations that we can build on these successes together,” Senator Mitchell added.

Senator Martin concluded, “Moody’s, S & P, and Fitch’s ratings clearly indicate to investors around the world that Maine is open for business and a place that is doing things responsibly. Simply put, our state is on the right track.”