Treasurer Miller Responds to Oklahoma Ratings Downgrade by S&P
Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings today announced it has
lowered Oklahoma’s bond ratings by one notch. The S&P report can be found
here: https://go.usa.gov/xX3Dh.
“Today’s announced downgrade of
Oklahoma’s credit rating should come as no surprise to anyone who follows state
finance,” said State Treasurer Ken Miller. “During my time as treasurer, other state
leaders and I have worked to draw attention and action to solve the state’s
structural budget problems cited in the downgrade statement.
“Perhaps the critique of
Oklahoma’s revenue problem coming from an independent, nonpartisan and credible
third party will finally spur action to correct the revenue imbalance,” Miller
said.
Treasurer Miller pointed to a sentence in the S&P
announcement that he said, “should serve as a call to action.” The line from
the report reads: “In the absence of meaningful structural reforms that align
revenues and expenditures and that do not materially depend on one-time budget
solutions or measures that carry significant implementation risk, we could
lower the ratings.”
Miller continued, “Years of
suboptimal budgeting that has relied heavily on the use of nonrecurring revenue
is now impossible for the rating agencies to ignore. This downgrade, and others
likely to come, will lead to higher debt costs for future infrastructure
projects unless sustainable corrective action is taken.
“These problems are well
understood by most officers in the executive branch who stand ready, willing
and able to work on solutions with our partners in the legislative branch.”
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For more information contact:
Tim Allen, Deputy Treasurer for
Communications & Program Administration
tim.allen@treasurer.ok.gov
(405) 522-4212
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