Standard & Poors (S&P) announced today it was downgrading Pennsylvania’s credit rating for the second time in three years.
The downgrade puts Pennsylvania in the bottom five states in credit rating, with Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The change means Pennsylvania will pay more to borrow money, which could equate to millions of dollars a year.
S&P’s downgrade puts renewed pressure on the legislature and Governor Tom Wolf to reach a budget deal, and work to fix the structural deficit Pennsylvania has faced.
“We must reach an immediate resolution to the budget and today’s news should be a wake-up call to come together and end this now. If an agreement has not progressed by next week, I will be forced to take further steps to manage this situation,” Wolf said in a release about the downgrade.
“Resolving the state’s fiscal issues through compromise must happen immediately. In reaching a final resolution, the budget must be balanced for this year and next. We need to plan responsibly today for a better tomorrow, understanding the far-reaching importance of the tough decisions that we have to make now,” Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) said in a joint statement.
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4 Responses
NO
Can we all agree that this is 100% Tom Wolf orrr?
We need a statewide sugary beverage tax.
It’s funny hearing Scarnati and Corman say “we need to plan responsibly today for a better tomorrow” almost 6 months after the House sent the first budget to them. Its amazing how the Senate did nothing with the budget until the last week of the fiscal year. I guess passing resolutions and welcoming guests were more important back in April than planning responsibly for tomorrow