SAN FRANCISCO (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 27, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AA-' long-term rating to Wisconsin's $38.2 million master lease certificates of participation (COPs) series 2014B. We also affirmed our 'AA-' long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on the state's appropriation bonds. In addition, we affirmed our 'AA' long-term rating and SPUR on the state's existing general obligation (GO) bonds. The outlook is stable. "In our view, the state's trend in recent years of accumulating higher general fund ending and budget stabilization fund balances has been favorable," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Gabriel Petek. "These improvements reflected a better aligned fiscal structure, which had experienced recurring imbalance throughout the 12 years prior to the 2013-2015 biennium,"
