By Brian Whitte
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland lost its Triple A bond rating from Moody’s on Wednesday.
Moody’s downgraded the state’s credit rating to AA1. Maryland has been receiving a Triple A bond rating from Moody’s since 1973. The state benefits from a higher rating by paying minimum fees when selling bonds to sell bonds like infrastructure and schools.
“The downgrade was driven by economic and financial inperformance compared to AAA rated states, given the increased vulnerability of states to federal policies and employment changes and their increased fixed costs,” Moody’s said.
Gov. Wes Moore and other major Maryland Democrats have denounced President Donald Trump’s massive federal workers layoffs. The District of Columbia has also recently suffered a downgrade in its credit rating.
“Frankly, this is a downgrade to Trump,” Moore said in a statement that it was jointly conducted by the chairman of the state legislature, Secretary Brooke Lehman and Treasury Secretary Derek Davis, who is all Democrats. “For the past 100 days, the federal administration’s decision has wreaked havoc throughout the region, including Maryland.”
A Maryland Republican described the downgrade as “a tough charge in the state’s current direction under Gov. Wes Moore.”
“Donald Trump didn’t downgrade Maryland’s bond ratings — the Annapolis Democrats did, and now they’re someone else responsible,” Senator Steve Hershey, leader of the Senate minority, said in a statement. “This is the result of a reckless spending, bloated budgets, and an economy that has been charged with overregulation and overreliance on the federal government.”
Earlier this year, Moody’s said the federal government poses a greater threat to Maryland than any other state.
Maryland lawmakers recently concluded a challenging legislative meeting to balance the state’s budget. They closed the $3.3 billion budget deficit for next year, thanks to a combination of tax cuts, budget cuts and fund transfers.
Maryland lawmakers also directed the governor’s Office of Budget to track the impact of federal cuts, warn them if they reach $1 billion and recommend how to deal with the impact.
A Democrat statement said Moody’s acknowledged that the state closed the budget gap even as it exposed to the economic impacts of federal funding and layoffs.
“Maryland holds one of the best possible credit ratings in the country,” the joint statement stated, “And for decades, we will always be paying debt.”
Original issue: May 14th, 2025, 2:52pm EDT
