Extra-ceiling minimum income proposal unites former members of PT, PSDB and MDB governments

Six specialists who worked in the public sector after redemocratization delivered to the presidential candidates a set of proposals that include the creation of a Minimum Income Benefit and a special program of extra-ceiling spending for the next government.

The document “Contributions for a democratic and progressive government”, released this Friday (5), was prepared by economists Bernard Appy, Francisco Gaetani and Pérsio Arida, by FGV Law SP professor Carlos Ari Sundfeld, by sociologist and economist Marcelo Medeiros and by political scientist Sérgio Fausto.

Those responsible for the document, which has been under discussion since March 2021, are also signatories of one of the pro-democracy manifestos that will be released on August 11. With that, they ended up highlighting right at the beginning of the text that the first and non-negotiable commitment “of a new government in 2023” has to be with democracy.

They also decided to deliver the proposals only to political leaders committed to the Democratic Rule of Law. Contributions are already in the hands of the campaigns of Simone Tebet (MDB), Lula (PT), Ciro Gomes (PDT) and Luiz Felipe d’Avila (Novo).

There is no delivery forecast for representatives of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), whose government is classified in the document as “without principles and without competence, which produces deliberate institutional setbacks and seriously compromises the future of the country”.

“There is an alignment between the concerns of these movements in defense of democracy, in which we all participate, and what is here. The democratic issue is fundamental in our document”, says Sundfeld.

“The proposals have to do with an attempt at alignment and convergence, something that is also present in this democratic movement, of letters and manifestos.”

Also a signatory, Bernard Appy states that the moment of disclosure was not chosen because of the current political scenario, but that the text could not fail to mention the most recent actions of the government, in the political and economic area. “We are a non-partisan group. We are all committed to democracy.”

Crafted by people with stints in nearly every government over the past 37 years, the text seeks to steer away from the extremes of the political and economic spectrum, say the authors.

It also seeks to highlight the connection between the proposals and the objective of reducing inequalities.

One of the main points is the income distribution program, which has an annual expenditure equivalent to that of Auxílio Brasil of R$ 600 (about R$ 150 billion), but aims to replace it, with a new design and financed by taxation of high-income people.

It includes a guarantee of a minimum income for all Brazilians and a Publicly-funded Pouança Seguro Família, which protects informal and formal low-income workers, in addition to a set of programs for early childhood. The idea incorporates the proposal of the Social Responsibility Program of the CDPP (Public Policy Debate Center).

To make this expenditure feasible, a temporary program is presented to increase expenditures until a new fiscal rule is defined by Congress. There is no proposal to replace the spending ceiling, whose review is scheduled for 2026.

The annual amount would be limited to 1% of GDP, with 60% for new income distribution policies and 40% divided into science, innovation and technology; and environmental sustainability, with an emphasis on the Amazon.

Although it generates a worsening of the fiscal result in the short term, the special spending program is seen by them as politically and economically necessary in the transition of the fiscal rule.

On the macroeconomic side, they defend three pillars: inflation targets, floating exchange rates and Central Bank autonomy.

The set of reforms also includes a strong reduction in the share of employer and employee social security contributions on the first minimum wage of all wages, a uniform contribution regime for all workers, including Simples and MEI and rural workers, and a review of all pensions. specials.

There is also a proposal to use the FGTS to finance unemployment insurance and remunerate the Fund’s accounts at market rates.

The authors dedicate a chapter to what they call the fight against constitutional inflation. In addition to not supporting proposals that exacerbate the problem, the new government should propose to the National Congress the maximum removal from the Constitution of rules on topics such as budgetary bindings, public servants, detailing public policies, tax provisions, among others.

The norms that come out of the Charter must be maintained as a complementary law or ordinary law, and their alteration will be made later.

For the authors, it is necessary to deconstitutionalize in order to govern. “Democracy is alternation in power. It makes no sense for the Constitution to be stiffened with the visions of the government of the day”, they say.

Themes dear to some of the authors, the text also brings proposals for changes in tax and administrative rules.