Maine has received the second-highest rating from one of the three international firms that closely track state finances.

Credit ratings directly impact how much it costs a state to repay the debt it incurs by issuing bonds. Earlier this week, Fitch Ratings upgraded Maine one step to a rating of AA+, and said the change reflects "strong budget controls and discipline," good reserves and "sustained improvement" in the state's financial performance during a challenging budget cycle.

Maine currently has just over $1 billion in the reserve account, often referred to as a Rainy Day Fund, that is supposed to help states weather economic downturns. That's the maximum allowed in the fund under state law, which caps the Budget Stabilization Fund at 18% of the General Fund revenues from the prior

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