Congress plans to expand even more power over the Budget next year and change the rules to make the release of the rapporteur’s amendments mandatory for the Planalto Palace.
The plan, which has the support of centrão leaders, was formulated in light of the favoritism of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the presidential race. The PT is critical of this type of amendment, which supports political negotiations in the government of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The draft LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) of 2023, which provides the basis for the formulation of the Budget, will be used to try to change the treatment to be given by the Executive to the rapporteur’s amendments.
The LDO report was presented this Sunday (26) with the mechanism for the amendments to be mandatory. Preliminary calculations indicate that, next year, these resources should add up to around R$ 19 billion in the Budget.
To try to reduce this amount, the head of the Planalto Palace in 2023 would also need to approve a project in Congress. In other words, parliamentarians would have to accept losing part of the control over the budget.
Parliamentary amendment is the way in which deputies and senators manage to allocate money from the Federal Budget to works and projects in their political bases.
Rapporteur amendments are not considered binding. This feature, which makes the use of resources a requirement, is currently applied to individual and bench splices.
Today, there are four types of amendments: individual amendments (which every deputy and senator are entitled to), bench amendments (parliamentarians from each state define priorities for the region), committee amendments (defined by members of congressional collegiate bodies) and the rapporteur (which allow more influential congressmen to supply their constituencies).
The first time that Congress approved the individual tax amendment mechanism was during the government of former President Dilma Rousseff (PT) amid clashes with the Legislature. This was done via the LDO, but later the mandatory release of amendments came to be provided for in the Constitution – a change approved while Eduardo Cunha, Dilma’s executioner, commanded the Chamber.
In recent speeches, Lula has indicated that the current model of the rapporteur’s amendments should not remain in any PT government.
The former president’s campaign has been studying proposals to change the rules of these amendments. An alternative would be to give more power to the ministries in the decision to release funds for works and projects across the country – PT members recognize that the end of the rapporteur’s amendments would not be approved by Congress.
The strategy of congressional leaders is to ensure that the rapporteur’s amendments remain tied to deputies and senators.
The 2023 LDO rapporteur, Senator Marcos do Val (Podemos-ES), said that the purpose of the mechanism is to make Congress more independent from the future government.
“That’s the intention. I’m not a bolsonarista. I’m an ally [do atual governo], but not an alien. I’m a government official. If next year democracy decides to elect someone else, I want to work to help my country and my state,” said the rapporteur.
The movement has been sponsored by the centrão – a group of parties that make up Bolsonaro’s support base in Congress. The biggest exponents are PL, PP and Republicans.
This partisan triad is united in Bolsonaro’s re-election campaign. Members of these acronyms fear that Lula will change the rules of the game, which has given greater political influence over the Budget.
Proposals for changes in the functioning of the rapporteur’s amendments in an eventual Lula government must face resistance from Bolsonaro’s allies, who would lose the privileges given to parliamentarians of this group due to their proximity to the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) and with the Palácio do Brasil. Highland.
Another change suggested by the senator is that these amendments next year need the approval of the budget rapporteur, senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), and the president of the CMO (Mixed Budget Committee), deputy Celso Sabino (União-PA).
Castro defends Lula’s election. Sabino is close to Lira, who is an ally of Bolsonaro.
The measure, therefore, could scramble the distribution of the 2023 amendments, but leaders say that depends on the outcome of the polls and agreements to be made by early next year – such as the election for presidents of the House and Senate.
Do Val stated that the change is intended to increase control over these amendments.
The rapporteur also includes in the LDO a section that already paves the way for salary readjustments and restructuring of police careers. The public security sector is part of his support base.
The senator said that valuing these professionals is essential for the country. “Money for public security is an investment to improve the quality of life and growth for Brazil,” he said.
The guarantee for the readjustment and restructuring of careers, such as the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police, still depends on the budget reserve to be made in the Budget discussions, which begin in August.
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