Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s announcement last week that Fitch Ratings upgraded the state’s credit rating from AA+ to AAA elicited both praise and caution from the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute.
Greg Lawson, research fellow at the center-right think tank, called the budgetary management to which state officials ascribed Fitch’s decision on Ohio’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) “a mixed bag.” (The state has also seen its general-obligation bond rating rise from AA+ to AAA, its appropriation-backed bonds move to AA+ from AA, the Ohio School District Credit Enhancement Program Rating go to AA+ from AA and the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Portsmouth Bypass project obligations rating move to A+ from AA-.)
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