Western, central and northern Minnesota under windy, dry weather conditions 

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

After one Wall Street firm put Minnesota on credit watch, a second says it will stand pat for now while a disagreement between the Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton proceeds to court.

"there is ample time and ample resources"

 to keep up with debt payments on a Senate office building. Those payments were thrown in doubt when Dayton vetoed funding for the House and Senate as a way to reopen budget negotiations. Lawmakers are suing him for the action.

The firm's statement says while the standoff poses no immediate risk, Minnesota's bond rating could be hurt if the dispute drags on.

"It would be outside the realm of Fitch's expectations for the state to not act in a way that ensures full and timely repayment of all its debt," 

. "If the state were to act in a manner that was detrimental to bondholders and miss payment on these bonds it would have significant negative impact on Fitch's view of the state's credit."

Fitch stopped short of issuing a credit warning as Standard & Poor's did 

The next payment on the Senate building debt isn't due until December.

Minnesota's near-perfect credit rating is important because it makes it cheaper for the state to borrow for public works projects.

Politics and Government News

Capitol View®

Brian Bakst

Author

Unlike Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings says there's no immediate concern that Minnesota will miss a debt payment on the Senate office building.

Second rating agency stands pat on state’s credit

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox