Section 2O. There is hereby established in the Highway Fund a subfund to be known as the Infrastructure Fund, which will be invested by the state treasurer, and which for the purposes of chapter twenty-nine and twenty-nine B shall be deemed a part of the Highway Fund. There shall be credited to the Infrastructure Fund 47.69 per cent of the receipts paid into the treasury of the commonwealth and directed to be credited to the Highway Fund under clause (a) of section 13 of chapter 64A. This amount, together with investments earnings thereon, shall be referred to as “special receipts” and shall be used in accordance with this section. Expenditures from the Infrastructure Fund shall, subject to appropriation, be made for the following purposes: (i) for the payment of the principal, including sinking fund payments of and premium, if any, and interest on special obligation bonds of the commonwealth, as hereinafter described, issued for one or more of the purposes described in clause (2) of section thirty-four of chapter ninety, (ii) for the maintenance of, or provision for, any reserves, additional security, insurance or other form of credit enhancement required or provided for in any trust agreement entered into pursuant to this section to secure such bonds, and (iii) for direct expenditures for any such purposes described in said clause (2), any such direct expenditures to be made only in compliance with any applicable restrictions relating thereto, including without limitation any coverage requirements contained in any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement, and (iv) for capital projects and capital assistance funds for regional transit authorities as described in section twenty-three of chapter eight hundred and eleven of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-five.
Any such bonds shall be authorized by a vote, taken by the yeas and nays, of two-thirds of each house of the general court present and voting thereon. Any such bonds shall be special obligations of the commonwealth payable from special receipts to the extent available and in any case payable solely from monies credited to the Highway Fund; notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, including without limitation section sixty A of chapter twenty-nine, such bonds shall not be general obligations of the commonwealth. Bonds may be issued in such manner and on such terms and conditions as the state treasurer may determine in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph and, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions hereof, provisions of general law for the issuance of bonds of the commonwealth. Bonds may be secured by a trust agreement entered into by the state treasurer, with the concurrence of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of transportation and construction, on behalf of the commonwealth, which trust agreement may pledge or assign all or any part of moneys credited to the Highway Fund and rights to receive the same, whether existing or coming into existence and whether held or thereafter acquired, and the proceeds thereof. The state treasurer is also authorized, with the concurrence of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of transportation and construction, to enter into additional security, insurance or other forms of credit enhancement which may be secured on a parity or subordinate basis with the bonds. A pledge in any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement shall be valid and binding from the time such pledge shall be made without any physical delivery or further act, and the lien of such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise, irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof. Any such pledge shall be perfected by filing of the trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement in the records of the state treasurer, and no filing need be made under chapter one hundred and six. Any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement may establish provisions defining defaults and establishing remedies and other matters relating to the rights and security of the holders of the bonds or other secured parties as determined by the state treasurer, including provisions relating to the establishment of reserves, the issuance of additional or refunding bonds, whether or not secured on a parity basis, the application of receipts, monies or funds pledged pursuant to such agreement, hereinafter referred to as “pledged funds”, and other matters deemed necessary or desirable by the state treasurer for the security of such bonds, and may also regulate the custody, investment and application of moneys. Any such bonds shall be deemed to be investment securities under chapter one hundred and six, shall be securities in which any public officer, fiduciary, insurance company, financial institution or investment company may properly invest funds and shall be securities which may be deposited with any public custodian for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds is authorized by law. Any such bonds, their transfer and the income therefrom, including profit on the sale thereof, shall at all times be exempt from taxation by and within the commonwealth.
The provisions hereof relating to bonds shall also be applicable to the issuance of notes insofar as such provisions may be appropriate therefor.
In order to increase the marketability of any such bonds or notes issued by the commonwealth, and in consideration of the acceptance of payment for any such bonds or notes, the commonwealth covenants with the purchasers and all subsequent holders and transferees of any such bonds or notes that while any such bond or note shall remain outstanding, and so long as the principal of or interest on any such bond or note shall remain unpaid, (i) special receipts shall not be diverted from the purposes identified herein, (ii) no pledged funds shall be diverted from the Highway Fund, (iii) in any fiscal year of the commonwealth, unless and until an appropriation has been made which is sufficient to pay the principal, including sinking fund payments, of and interest on all such bonds and notes of the commonwealth and to provide for or maintain any reserves, additional security, insurance or other form of credit enhancement required or provided for in any trust agreement securing any such bonds or notes, no pledged funds shall be applied to any other use and (iv) so long as such revenues are necessary, as determined by the state treasurer in accordance with any applicable trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement, for the purposes for which they have been pledged, the rates of the fees collected pursuant to section thirty-three of chapter ninety and of the excises imposed in chapters sixty-four A, sixty-four E and sixty-four F shall not be reduced below the amount in effect at the time of issuance of any such bond or note.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirteen of chapter sixty-four A or any other general or special law to the contrary, no more than ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts in any fiscal year prior to July first, two thousand, under the excise imposed in section four of said chapter sixty-four A, including all amounts received as a result of penalties, forfeitures, interest, cost of suits and fines, less any amounts reimbursed under sections seven and seven A of said chapter sixty-four A, shall be expended for the construction of the central artery/third harbor tunnel project. If, in any such fiscal year, less than ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts is expended for such construction, the difference between ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts and the amount actually expended on such construction during that fiscal year shall be available during that or any subsequent fiscal year for any other construction or reconstruction purpose, or in any subsequent fiscal year for central artery/third harbor tunnel construction; provided, however, amounts of said ten percent net fiscal year receipts expended in any fiscal year for purposes other than the central artery/third harbor tunnel construction project as hereinbefore provided, shall be available for expenditure for central artery/third harbor tunnel construction in any subsequent fiscal year. If the above-described difference is used in a subsequent year for such central artery/third harbor tunnel construction, the total amount used for such central artery/third harbor tunnel construction during that subsequent fiscal year may exceed the ten percent of net fiscal year receipts permitted by this section, provided that the total amount used for such construction shall not exceed twenty percent of the net fiscal year receipts in that subsequent fiscal year. Further, notwithstanding the foregoing, no more than twenty percent of the special receipts received in any fiscal year shall be paid in that or any subsequent fiscal year for debt service on bonds or notes or portions thereof, issued to finance the central artery/third harbor tunnel project, so-called, or for direct expenditures on such project, and any trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement entered into by the commonwealth pursuant to this section, shall contain a covenant to such effect.
Section 2O. There is hereby established in the Highway Fund a subfund to be known as the Infrastructure Fund, which will be invested by the state treasurer, and which for the purposes of chapter twenty-nine and twenty-nine B shall be deemed a part of the Highway Fund. There shall be credited to the Infrastructure Fund 47.69 per cent of the receipts paid into the treasury of the commonwealth and directed to be credited to the Highway Fund under clause (a) of section 13 of chapter 64A. This amount, together with investments earnings thereon, shall be referred to as “special receipts” and shall be used in accordance with this section. Expenditures from the Infrastructure Fund shall, subject to appropriation, be made for the following purposes: (i) for the payment of the principal, including sinking fund payments of and premium, if any, and interest on special obligation bonds of the commonwealth, as hereinafter described, issued for one or more of the purposes described in clause (2) of section thirty-four of chapter ninety, (ii) for the maintenance of, or provision for, any reserves, additional security, insurance or other form of credit enhancement required or provided for in any trust agreement entered into pursuant to this section to secure such bonds, and (iii) for direct expenditures for any such purposes described in said clause (2), any such direct expenditures to be made only in compliance with any applicable restrictions relating thereto, including without limitation any coverage requirements contained in any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement, and (iv) for capital projects and capital assistance funds for regional transit authorities as described in section twenty-three of chapter eight hundred and eleven of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-five.
Any such bonds shall be authorized by a vote, taken by the yeas and nays, of two-thirds of each house of the general court present and voting thereon. Any such bonds shall be special obligations of the commonwealth payable from special receipts to the extent available and in any case payable solely from monies credited to the Highway Fund; notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, including without limitation section sixty A of chapter twenty-nine, such bonds shall not be general obligations of the commonwealth. Bonds may be issued in such manner and on such terms and conditions as the state treasurer may determine in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph and, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions hereof, provisions of general law for the issuance of bonds of the commonwealth. Bonds may be secured by a trust agreement entered into by the state treasurer, with the concurrence of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of transportation and construction, on behalf of the commonwealth, which trust agreement may pledge or assign all or any part of moneys credited to the Highway Fund and rights to receive the same, whether existing or coming into existence and whether held or thereafter acquired, and the proceeds thereof. The state treasurer is also authorized, with the concurrence of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of transportation and construction, to enter into additional security, insurance or other forms of credit enhancement which may be secured on a parity or subordinate basis with the bonds. A pledge in any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement shall be valid and binding from the time such pledge shall be made without any physical delivery or further act, and the lien of such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise, irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof. Any such pledge shall be perfected by filing of the trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement in the records of the state treasurer, and no filing need be made under chapter one hundred and six. Any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement may establish provisions defining defaults and establishing remedies and other matters relating to the rights and security of the holders of the bonds or other secured parties as determined by the state treasurer, including provisions relating to the establishment of reserves, the issuance of additional or refunding bonds, whether or not secured on a parity basis, the application of receipts, monies or funds pledged pursuant to such agreement, hereinafter referred to as “pledged funds”, and other matters deemed necessary or desirable by the state treasurer for the security of such bonds, and may also regulate the custody, investment and application of moneys. Any such bonds shall be deemed to be investment securities under chapter one hundred and six, shall be securities in which any public officer, fiduciary, insurance company, financial institution or investment company may properly invest funds and shall be securities which may be deposited with any public custodian for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds is authorized by law. Any such bonds, their transfer and the income therefrom, including profit on the sale thereof, shall at all times be exempt from taxation by and within the commonwealth.
The provisions hereof relating to bonds shall also be applicable to the issuance of notes insofar as such provisions may be appropriate therefor.
In order to increase the marketability of any such bonds or notes issued by the commonwealth, and in consideration of the acceptance of payment for any such bonds or notes, the commonwealth covenants with the purchasers and all subsequent holders and transferees of any such bonds or notes that while any such bond or note shall remain outstanding, and so long as the principal of or interest on any such bond or note shall remain unpaid, (i) special receipts shall not be diverted from the purposes identified herein, (ii) no pledged funds shall be diverted from the Highway Fund, (iii) in any fiscal year of the commonwealth, unless and until an appropriation has been made which is sufficient to pay the principal, including sinking fund payments, of and interest on all such bonds and notes of the commonwealth and to provide for or maintain any reserves, additional security, insurance or other form of credit enhancement required or provided for in any trust agreement securing any such bonds or notes, no pledged funds shall be applied to any other use and (iv) so long as such revenues are necessary, as determined by the state treasurer in accordance with any applicable trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement, for the purposes for which they have been pledged, the rates of the fees collected pursuant to section thirty-three of chapter ninety and of the excises imposed in chapters sixty-four A, sixty-four E and sixty-four F shall not be reduced below the amount in effect at the time of issuance of any such bond or note.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirteen of chapter sixty-four A or any other general or special law to the contrary, no more than ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts in any fiscal year prior to July first, two thousand, under the excise imposed in section four of said chapter sixty-four A, including all amounts received as a result of penalties, forfeitures, interest, cost of suits and fines, less any amounts reimbursed under sections seven and seven A of said chapter sixty-four A, shall be expended for the construction of the central artery/third harbor tunnel project. If, in any such fiscal year, less than ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts is expended for such construction, the difference between ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts and the amount actually expended on such construction during that fiscal year shall be available during that or any subsequent fiscal year for any other construction or reconstruction purpose, or in any subsequent fiscal year for central artery/third harbor tunnel construction; provided, however, amounts of said ten percent net fiscal year receipts expended in any fiscal year for purposes other than the central artery/third harbor tunnel construction project as hereinbefore provided, shall be available for expenditure for central artery/third harbor tunnel construction in any subsequent fiscal year. If the above-described difference is used in a subsequent year for such central artery/third harbor tunnel construction, the total amount used for such central artery/third harbor tunnel construction during that subsequent fiscal year may exceed the ten percent of net fiscal year receipts permitted by this section, provided that the total amount used for such construction shall not exceed twenty percent of the net fiscal year receipts in that subsequent fiscal year. Further, notwithstanding the foregoing, no more than twenty percent of the special receipts received in any fiscal year shall be paid in that or any subsequent fiscal year for debt service on bonds or notes or portions thereof, issued to finance the central artery/third harbor tunnel project, so-called, or for direct expenditures on such project, and any trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement entered into by the commonwealth pursuant to this section, shall contain a covenant to such effect.
Section 2O. There is hereby established in the Highway Fund a subfund to be known as the Infrastructure Fund, which will be invested by the state treasurer, and which for the purposes of chapter twenty-nine and twenty-nine B shall be deemed a part of the Highway Fund. There shall be credited to the Infrastructure Fund 47.69 per cent of the receipts paid into the treasury of the commonwealth and directed to be credited to the Highway Fund under clause (a) of section 13 of chapter 64A. This amount, together with investments earnings thereon, shall be referred to as “special receipts” and shall be used in accordance with this section. Expenditures from the Infrastructure Fund shall, subject to appropriation, be made for the following purposes: (i) for the payment of the principal, including sinking fund payments of and premium, if any, and interest on special obligation bonds of the commonwealth, as hereinafter described, issued for one or more of the purposes described in clause (2) of section thirty-four of chapter ninety, (ii) for the maintenance of, or provision for, any reserves, additional security, insurance or other form of credit enhancement required or provided for in any trust agreement entered into pursuant to this section to secure such bonds, and (iii) for direct expenditures for any such purposes described in said clause (2), any such direct expenditures to be made only in compliance with any applicable restrictions relating thereto, including without limitation any coverage requirements contained in any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement, and (iv) for capital projects and capital assistance funds for regional transit authorities as described in section twenty-three of chapter eight hundred and eleven of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-five.
Any such bonds shall be authorized by a vote, taken by the yeas and nays, of two-thirds of each house of the general court present and voting thereon. Any such bonds shall be special obligations of the commonwealth payable from special receipts to the extent available and in any case payable solely from monies credited to the Highway Fund; notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, including without limitation section sixty A of chapter twenty-nine, such bonds shall not be general obligations of the commonwealth. Bonds may be issued in such manner and on such terms and conditions as the state treasurer may determine in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph and, to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions hereof, provisions of general law for the issuance of bonds of the commonwealth. Bonds may be secured by a trust agreement entered into by the state treasurer, with the concurrence of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of transportation and construction, on behalf of the commonwealth, which trust agreement may pledge or assign all or any part of moneys credited to the Highway Fund and rights to receive the same, whether existing or coming into existence and whether held or thereafter acquired, and the proceeds thereof. The state treasurer is also authorized, with the concurrence of the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of transportation and construction, to enter into additional security, insurance or other forms of credit enhancement which may be secured on a parity or subordinate basis with the bonds. A pledge in any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement shall be valid and binding from the time such pledge shall be made without any physical delivery or further act, and the lien of such pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise, irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof. Any such pledge shall be perfected by filing of the trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement in the records of the state treasurer, and no filing need be made under chapter one hundred and six. Any such trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement may establish provisions defining defaults and establishing remedies and other matters relating to the rights and security of the holders of the bonds or other secured parties as determined by the state treasurer, including provisions relating to the establishment of reserves, the issuance of additional or refunding bonds, whether or not secured on a parity basis, the application of receipts, monies or funds pledged pursuant to such agreement, hereinafter referred to as “pledged funds”, and other matters deemed necessary or desirable by the state treasurer for the security of such bonds, and may also regulate the custody, investment and application of moneys. Any such bonds shall be deemed to be investment securities under chapter one hundred and six, shall be securities in which any public officer, fiduciary, insurance company, financial institution or investment company may properly invest funds and shall be securities which may be deposited with any public custodian for any purpose for which the deposit of bonds is authorized by law. Any such bonds, their transfer and the income therefrom, including profit on the sale thereof, shall at all times be exempt from taxation by and within the commonwealth.
The provisions hereof relating to bonds shall also be applicable to the issuance of notes insofar as such provisions may be appropriate therefor.
In order to increase the marketability of any such bonds or notes issued by the commonwealth, and in consideration of the acceptance of payment for any such bonds or notes, the commonwealth covenants with the purchasers and all subsequent holders and transferees of any such bonds or notes that while any such bond or note shall remain outstanding, and so long as the principal of or interest on any such bond or note shall remain unpaid, (i) special receipts shall not be diverted from the purposes identified herein, (ii) no pledged funds shall be diverted from the Highway Fund, (iii) in any fiscal year of the commonwealth, unless and until an appropriation has been made which is sufficient to pay the principal, including sinking fund payments, of and interest on all such bonds and notes of the commonwealth and to provide for or maintain any reserves, additional security, insurance or other form of credit enhancement required or provided for in any trust agreement securing any such bonds or notes, no pledged funds shall be applied to any other use and (iv) so long as such revenues are necessary, as determined by the state treasurer in accordance with any applicable trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement, for the purposes for which they have been pledged, the rates of the fees collected pursuant to section thirty-three of chapter ninety and of the excises imposed in chapters sixty-four A, sixty-four E and sixty-four F shall not be reduced below the amount in effect at the time of issuance of any such bond or note.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirteen of chapter sixty-four A or any other general or special law to the contrary, no more than ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts in any fiscal year prior to July first, two thousand, under the excise imposed in section four of said chapter sixty-four A, including all amounts received as a result of penalties, forfeitures, interest, cost of suits and fines, less any amounts reimbursed under sections seven and seven A of said chapter sixty-four A, shall be expended for the construction of the central artery/third harbor tunnel project. If, in any such fiscal year, less than ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts is expended for such construction, the difference between ten percent of the net fiscal year receipts and the amount actually expended on such construction during that fiscal year shall be available during that or any subsequent fiscal year for any other construction or reconstruction purpose, or in any subsequent fiscal year for central artery/third harbor tunnel construction; provided, however, amounts of said ten percent net fiscal year receipts expended in any fiscal year for purposes other than the central artery/third harbor tunnel construction project as hereinbefore provided, shall be available for expenditure for central artery/third harbor tunnel construction in any subsequent fiscal year. If the above-described difference is used in a subsequent year for such central artery/third harbor tunnel construction, the total amount used for such central artery/third harbor tunnel construction during that subsequent fiscal year may exceed the ten percent of net fiscal year receipts permitted by this section, provided that the total amount used for such construction shall not exceed twenty percent of the net fiscal year receipts in that subsequent fiscal year. Further, notwithstanding the foregoing, no more than twenty percent of the special receipts received in any fiscal year shall be paid in that or any subsequent fiscal year for debt service on bonds or notes or portions thereof, issued to finance the central artery/third harbor tunnel project, so-called, or for direct expenditures on such project, and any trust agreement or credit enhancement agreement entered into by the commonwealth pursuant to this section, shall contain a covenant to such effect.
