By Jake Neher
Michigan’s state budget director says credit agencies won’t upgrade Michigan’s rating because of proposals on the November ballot.
John Nixon today spoke alongside opponents of Proposal Five, which would require a statewide vote or two-thirds majorities of the Legislature to approve a tax increase.
Nixon says all the initiatives cast doubt about the state’s economic future.
“Any one of them doesn’t really dictate your credit rating,” he says. “If you have a whole slew of them - where you’re getting hit on the expenditure side, you’re getting hit on the revenue side, you’re getting hit on the economic development side - all at once you’ve got a recipe for not a lot of confidence with the investors and the rating agencies.”
Nixon says Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch all decided not to raise the state’s rating this month.
Proposal Five supporters say Nixon’s claim is bogus and only meant to scare voters.
“It’s about time, instead of blaming others, that the governor and his political appointee take responsibility for their current tax-and-spend policies,” says Scott Hagerstrom with Americans for Prosperity. The group supports Proposal Five.
Budget officials say they might ask the rating agencies to reconsider after November Sixth.
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