Citing the state’s recently adopted rainy-day fund as an example, Gov. Chris Gregoire declared Washington to be strong in her state of the state address Tuesday.
“Speaking of the rainy-day fund — partly because of it, our bond rating was just raised,” she said. “Our higher rating can lower borrowing costs for such things as schools and prisons.”
Lawmakers in 2007 put the reserve fund before Washington voters, who approved it in November. Standard & Poor’s cited the reserve as a key factor in upgrading the state to AA-plus from AA that month.
Lawmakers convened this week for a short, 60-day session. They adopted a biennial budget last year.
