Governors urge debt deal, discuss jobs

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(Reuters) - U.S. governors meeting in Salt Lake City this weekend called for a quick resolution to the current impasse over raising the U.S. borrowing limit, saying they worried about impacts to their own credit scores.

The impasse in Washington, which could lead to missed debt payments, has prompted rating agencies to say the nation's AAA rating could be in jeopardy, and the credit ratings of a big chunk of the U.S. municipal bond market could be at risk if it actually downgrades the U.S. rating.

This week, Moody's placed more than 7,000 ratings affecting about $130 billion of muni debt on review for a possible downgrade due to a close connection with the U.S. government.

"This is big stuff that somebody is playing with, and the fact that it's become a partisan battle ... it's not what's good for America," said North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, a Democrat.

The National Governors Association is meeting this weekend in Salt Lake City.

Read more at http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/16/us-governors-economy-idUSTRE76F1YG20110716