Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its U.S. public finance special tax criteria, including criteria for sales tax, highway user tax, and income tax revenue bonds, leading to rating upgrades on tens of billions of dollars of debt. The criteria revision was prompted by a re-examination of the stability of sales, income, and highway user tax revenue streams over previous economic cycles, and the placing of less emphasis on additional parity bonds tests in instances when practical considerations make significant additional parity bonding unlikely. The ratings revisions involved a comprehensive review of all outstanding sales tax, income tax, and highway user tax bonds currently rated by Standard&Poor's, and are effective immediately. Standard&Poor's is refining its special
