Credit-rating Effects of GASB 34.

Public Management, October, 2004 by Jacob, Karl

One of the most significant changes in the history of financial reporting by states and local governments in the United States has been the adoption and implementation of the Government Accounting Standards Board's (GASB) Statement 34 (GASB 34). Long before questionable and fraudulent business practices made the news headlines, shaking investor confidence in the private sector, the GASB sought to maximize both the level of detail/disclosure in financial statements and their user-friendliness for public sector reporting entities.

The report S&P on Credit Rating Effects of GASB 34--the first in a series of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services credit commentaries on the subject--will attempt to answer the most frequently asked questions that investors,...