Barroso, of the STF, allows the holding of tenders in states and municipalities undergoing tax recovery

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), freed states and municipalities that adhere to the Tax Recovery Regime to hold a competitive examination to fill vacant positions in public administration.

The minister overturned parts of a law sanctioned by President Jair Bolsonaro this year that imposes a series of limitations on entities of the federation that have an agreement with the Union to renegotiate debts in search of greater fiscal balance.

Barroso stated that the rules provided for in the legislation represent “a risk to the continuity of state and municipal public services”.

The minister’s decision is preliminary (provisional) and will be analyzed by the whole of the court at the virtual plenary session that will take place between December 10 and 17.

The magistrate also allowed mayors and governors to exclude from the expenditure ceiling investments carried out with resources from special public funds.

Barroso criticized this piece of legislation: “It so happens that applying the spending ceiling to special funds uncritically, at least in summary cognition, seems to produce a nonsense: public resources with a specific destination, which could be invested in the improvement of public services essential to population, will be paralyzed”.

Regarding the veto on hiring personnel, the minister said that the measure limits the power of action of state and municipal governments.

“Very little would be left of the autonomy of states, the Federal District and municipalities if they could not even hire personnel to keep their staff stable when they adhere to the Tax Recovery Regime,” he said.

For the minister, it is not correct to condition the federal government’s approval on the calling of public tenders by governors and mayors.

“The linking of filling even vacant positions to the prior authorization of federal agencies affronts, in principle, the autonomy of states and municipalities. It is not, here, about the creation of new public positions. appoint new employees to vacant positions, with a view to the continuity of state and municipal public services,” he said.

The decision was taken in action presented in July by the Association of Brazilian Magistrates and the National Association of Members of the Public Ministry.

The entities questioned several provisions of the law enacted this year, which changed several provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Law, of 2000, and of the 2017 law, which instituted the Tax Recovery Regime.

The new text establishes the counterparts so that federation entities can adhere to the regime, with the objective of settling their debts with the Union.

Among the states that already participate in the regime is Rio de Janeiro. In June, the state announced that it was authorized by the federal government to join the program.