Treasury sets 3Q borrowing at $329B
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department announced Monday the federal government plans to borrow $329 billion in the current July-September quarter. That's the highest third-quarter figure in eight years, as the government faces rising borrowing needs due to higher budget deficits.
Treasury said the projected borrowing is 74 percent higher than the $189 billion borrowed in the same quarter a year ago and would mark the largest July-September amount since 2010.
The Trump administration announced earlier this month in its mid-session budget review that it expects this year's deficit to rise to $890 billion and climb further to $1.1 trillion in 2019.
Critics say the surging deficits reflect the effect of the $1.5 trillion in tax cuts President Donald Trump pushed Congress to approve in December. The Trump administration contends that the tax cuts will end up paying for themselves by increasing economic growth in coming years.
The administration's new forecasts added $17 billion to its deficit estimate for this budget year ending Sept. 30. The administration's forecast of a deficit of $890 billion this year is higher than the latest estimate of the Congressional Budget Office, which forecasts this year's deficit will total $793 billion.
-- The Associated Press
Georgia governor halts jet fuel tax
ATLANTA -- Georgia's governor on Monday made good on his vow to restore a tax cut on jet fuel sales that was previously killed by state Republican lawmakers irate with Delta Air Lines for ending a discount for members of the National Rifle Association.
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order ending collection of the state's 4 percent sales tax on jet fuel beginning Wednesday.
Earlier this year, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle effectively killed a proposed sales tax exemption on jet fuel to punish Delta for ending a discount program for NRA members in the wake of the deadly school shootings in Parkland, Fla., in February.
The NRA soon after endorsed Cagle in his failed bid for governor, which ended July 25 when he lost the GOP primary runoff to Brian Kemp. Deal had also endorsed Cagle in the race.
Deal said in a statement that the tax, which brought in about $39 million per year in revenue, put Georgia at a disadvantage to other states with major airport hubs like North Carolina, Florida, Texas and New York.
-- The Associated Press
S.C. utility pushes to stop rate cut
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A South Carolina utility told a federal judge on Monday that it played by the rules, so lawmakers should too, even if it means saddling customers with billions of dollars of debt from a failed nuclear project.
South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. wants the judge to stop a temporary 15 percent rate cut, which would begin appearing on bills next week. The cut, passed by lawmakers earlier this summer, would be retroactive to April and reduce a residential customer's monthly electricity bill by about $25 on average.
Customers have already paid about $2 billion for two additional nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, which were abandoned a year ago today without ever generating power after a decade of planning and construction. For at least a few months, the rate cut would keep ratepayers from having to pay even more to help utilities pay off their debts.
SCE&G is suing the Public Service Commission. The General Assembly has sided with regulators to keep the rate cut in place, filing as interveners in this federal case.
SCE&G said it followed the 2007 Base Load Review Act, which allowed it to charge consumers for their construction before the reactors were ever in use and continue to collect even if the project wasn't completed, utility attorney David Balser said.
-- The Associated Press
U.S. pending home sales rose in June
WASHINGTON -- More Americans signed contracts to purchase homes in June compared with May, but the volume of pending sales has slipped over the past year.
The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its pending home sales index rose 0.9 percent last month to 106.9. But on a yearly basis, pending home sales have fallen 2.5 percent.
There are signs that home-buying has stalled in recent months due to the mix of rising prices, higher mortgage rates and a dearth of sales listings.
On a monthly basis, pending sales increased in all four geographic regions: Northeast, Midwest, South and West. But pending sales have also tumbled in all four regions during the past year, especially in the Northeast and West where homes are generally more expensive.
Pending sales are a barometer of home purchases that are completed a month or two later.
After months of steady gains, the housing market has shown evidence of stalling.
Sales of new homes tumbled 5.3 percent in June, while groundbreakings also fell, according to the Commerce Department.
-- The Associated Press
Smelting cleanup agreement reached
BUTTE, Mont. -- The Environmental Protection Agency says an agreement has been reached over the cleanup of a century's worth of smelting waste in the southwestern Montana town of Anaconda.
The agreement among the EPA, the Atlantic Richfield Co., the state of Montana and Anaconda-Deer Lodge County came Saturday after negotiations last week. The EPA had given the parties until today to reach an agreement in principle or would have imposed a cleanup order.
The Montana Standard reports the details are not public because of a federal judge's gag order.
Anaconda's environmental damage was caused by copper smelting that sent arsenic, lead, copper and other metals into the air until 1980.
EPA regional administrator Doug Benevento has said he wants Anaconda to have a signed consent decree by the end of the year.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 07/31/2018