S&P Global Ratings said it has placed its AA-minus general obligation (GO) rating, A-plus appropriation rating, A departmental appropriation rating, and A-minus moral obligation on the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on CreditWatch with negative implications.
"The CreditWatch action reflects recent developments that indicate that Pennsylvania will likely proceed into fiscal 2017 with a spending plan that is not supported by a revenue package or offsetting spending cuts to bring the budget into alignment," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Carol Spain, "but if lawmakers continue to negotiate and reach a balanced budget within a 90 day timeframe, we could remove the ratings from CreditWatch."
At the same time, it assigned its AA-minus rating to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania's second series of 2016 GO bonds.
