Massachusetts

The Massachusetts School Building Authority Wednesday will issue $151 million of taxable qualified school construction bonds secured by a subordinate lien on dedicated sales tax revenue.

Massachusetts is looking to form a pool of financial advisers to assist it with upcoming bond and note deals.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation this week will price $893.8 million of fixed-rate senior revenue bonds to refinance Metropolitan Highway System debt it took on from the former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, followed by a $207.6 million variable-rate senior debt sale.

Massachusetts voters in November could face a ballot initiative to reduce the sales tax to 3% from 6.25%, a change that would slash collections by $2.5 billion in fiscal 2012.

Moody’s Investors Service last week revised to negative from stable its outlook on $4.5 billion of outstanding Massachusetts Water Resources Authority debt.

Massachusetts has $1.07 billion of private-activity borrowing capacity in 2010, with the state rolling over $482 million of unused PAB volume from 2009.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week approved a five-year, $3.8 billion capital spending plan that includes $800 million of bonds to support mass transit infrastructure improvements in the greater Boston area.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation today will issue its first-ever bond transaction, a $274.7 million fixed-rate refinancing to generate savings.

CHICAGO — Private-equity group Cerberus Capital Management LP yesterday said it would buy Boston’s nonprofit Cerberus Christi Health Care for $830 million, taking over the Catholic system’s long-term debt and spending $400 million on capital upgrades.

WASHINGTON — Southwest Securities Inc. has agreed to pay $470,147 to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating an anti-pay-to-play rule by co-underwriting Massachusetts bond deals within two years after its former senior vice president made political contributions to state Treasurer Timothy Cahill.

Massachusetts will head to market in the next two weeks with $538.8 million of SIFMA-index general obligation debt that will refinance Series 2005A variable-rate bonds.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans to refinance by mid-April up to $2.27 billion of debt that helped fund Boston’s Central Artery Project, known as the Big Dig.

The Massachusetts Port Authority plans to issue $110 million of private-activity bonds before the end of 2010 to take advantage of the federal government’s temporary suspension of the alternate minimum tax for such deals.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday filed new legislation for tax credits and borrowing initiatives for small and medium-sized businesses to help promote job growth.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday released a $28.2 billion fiscal 2011 budget proposal that includes a plan to restructure up to $300 million of general obligation debt that otherwise would come due in fiscal 2011.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday announced that the state anticipates receiving $19.05 billion of tax revenue in fiscal 2011, about $590 million more than officials estimate collecting in the current fiscal year.

Construction of Linden Ponds, an ­Erickson Retirement Communities development in the Boston area, will resume late next year, and investors in the project’s $156 million of tax-exempt bonds will be paid, Erickson executive staff told bondholders and market participants last week in an investor call.

Pushing principal and interest costs out to future years has weakened the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s balance sheet, with an independent report released yesterday estimating the mass transit agency faces a cumulative structural deficit of $1.19 billion by fiscal 2014.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick Friday announced five members to serve on the board of the state's new transportation bonding authority, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick last week released additional details of how he plans to close an estimated $600 million revenue shortfall in the fiscal 2010 budget, opting to retain local aid allocations totaling $936 million.