Massachusetts: Massachusetts Turnpike Authority

Looks like the BMG swaptions team missed this interesting AP article from 23 December 2008:
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority has reached an agreement to get out of a risky deal with the bankrupt Lehman Brothers, which officials said netted $31 million and cleared away a fiscal cloud looming over the financially troubled agency.

Turnpike Executive Director Alan Lebovidge on Monday said the rare bit of positive financial news should have no effect on planned toll hikes, but at least one Turnpike board member said the deal should give the agency breathing room to delay any increases.

Alert BMG readers will remember that the reason you may soon have to pay $7 to travel on the Pike, or a lot more in gas taxes, is because the Turnpike Authority may have to pay $363-$470 million (reports vary) to cover another swaption agreement it made with Swiss bank (and

BOSTON - A group of local officials, ranging from Boston Mayor Tom Menino to several state legislators, railed against a proposed toll increase at a hearing of the Joint Committee on Transportation Wednesday.

The hearing, the third of four on the challenges faces the state's transportation system, was intended to focus on proposed legislation that would increase the state's gas tax as an alternative way to increase revenue. But before that was discussed, several lawmakers expressed the outrage of their constituents with regards to the proposed toll hikes.

As Beacon Hill continues to debate how to pay off more than $2 billion in Big Dig debt, an increasingly political fight is brewing between Gov. Deval Patrick and members of the legislature that has many observers speculating that no one will emerge unscathed.

"Expect a circus," said Dennis Hale, a political scientist at Boston College. "It's not going to be very pretty."

BOSTON - The state Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation convened Wednesday for the first of four planned public hearings on tackling the state's transportation costs and offered few insights as to what proposal it would support.