Maine's Rainy Day Fund may be ready for even a downpour

File photo The state's Rainy Day Fund now totals over $490 million, a historic high, said Gov. Janet Mills.

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By Staff

Like the record rainfall in Maine this month, the state’s Rainy Day Fund has grown to a historic high, now totaling $491.9 million.

Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday that her administration deposited another $223.6 million into the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund.

The deposit comes from surplus revenue from fiscal year 2021, which ended June 30. The money was designated to the fund in this year’s biennial budget.

While several other states drew from rainy day funds during the pandemic, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Mills credited prudent fiscal management and federal support for the surplus.

“In the past two and a half years, my administration has worked in a bipartisan fashion with the Legislature to more than double the Budget Stabilization Fund to this historic high level,” she said in a news release. “This sound fiscal management has positioned us well to continue our economic recovery and to send a strong message to bond rating agencies about our financial stability. I am proud of the progress my administration and the Legislature have made together on this important front.”

In May, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s credit rating agencies cited Maine’s governance practices and reserves in the Budget Stabilization Fund as grounds for reaffirming the state's Aa2 and AA bond ratings, respectively.