S&P upgrades Florida's credit rating

While the United States credit rating with Standard & Poor's may have been downgraded recently, Florida's credit outlook has been revised from negative to stable.

The improvement means better interest rates for the state.   So Florida took advantage of that and refinanced some of its old bonds, thereby saving millions of dollars.  Since July Florida has refinanced $1.5 billion in bonds, totaling $135 million in savings for the state.

"We went through, got lower pricing, because a triple A bond rating can give us that.  In this marketplace, there aren't many of us out there who have that rating," says Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.

Tax reductions and state budget cuts were the keys to Governor Rick Scott convincing S&P to revise the outlook.