Analysts at Moody's Investors Service announced Monday that they had cut the state's bond rating by one notch, from A2 to A3, nearly a month after Gov. Chris Christie unveiled his $35.5 billion budget proposal for the coming fiscal year.
Christie, a Republican in his last year in office, already had the dubious distinction of amassing the most downgrades of any governor in U.S. history. The new action by Moody's was the 11th downgrade under his watch. The agency has now cut the state's general-obligation bond rating four times under Christie, while the other two major credit-rating houses, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, have issued three and four cuts, respectively.
The torrent of downgrades has given New Jersey a reputation as one of the worst-managed states, and, according to Bloomberg, it has begun to take a toll on state taxpayers. The cost of borrowing money for major public projects has begun to increase because of the state's low-end credit rating, experts say. Only Illinois has a lower credit rating.
