Senate approves Brazil Aid and resumes gap for the waiting list

Through government coordination, the Senate altered the proposal that creates Brazil Aid and resumed the gap so that there is a waiting list in the social program. Auxílio Brasil was created by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to replace Bolsa Família – a brand linked to PT administrations.

By symbolic vote, the House’s plenary made changes to the version already approved by the Chamber and overturned a mechanism that had the potential to increase the number of families served by the program. The text approved by the deputies would put pressure on the Auxílio Brasil budget as early as 2022.

With the conclusion of the vote in the Senate, the proposal that creates the Auxílio Brasil now goes to sanction.

There was even support from opposition parties such as the PT.

By having created the Auxílio Brasil through an MP (provisional measure), the Bolsonaro act had immediate effect. However, the project needed the approval of the two Houses of Congress until December 7th in order not to lose its validity.

The Chamber had approved changes to the program’s rules that would increase the coverage of cash transfers to the most vulnerable population, putting pressure on the social program’s budget for 2022. The budget of nearly R$86 billion, which has been planned for next year, might not be enough.

According to the MP’s rapporteur in the Chamber, deputy Marcelo Aro (PP-MG), the version of the proposal that went through the Chamber would raise the number of benefited families to 20 million.

The government works with the scenario that Auxílio Brasil will serve 17 million families — coverage today is 14.7 million.

After the performance of the government leader in the Senate, Fernando Bezerra (MDB-PE), and the minister João Roma (Citizenship), the MP rapporteur in the Senate, senator Roberto Rocha (PSDB-MA), resumed a passage in which conditions the service of the families to the availability of financial resources.

Today, by law, the government is not required to serve all families that are within the poverty and extreme poverty range.

The queue, which currently has around 1.2 million registrations, is formed because the Bolsa Família budget has been smaller than necessary to meet everyone who had their application analyzed by the government.

However, in addition to the queue that has already formed, there has been an increase in the number of families that have registered in the poverty and extreme poverty range through the Cadastro Único (system for social programs), as reported by government technicians to sheet in October before the end of emergency aid.

Rocha changed the version of the MP approved in the Chamber, which forced the government to keep the queue always zeroed, regardless of the funds available in the program.

“Over the next year, if new registrations are formed, a queue will be formed, but the Budget has already been approved and we have no way of getting these people to be served within the year itself. So, they will be served in the following year. “, said Bezerra.​

The Senate, however, maintained a change approved by the deputies that raises the levels of poverty and extreme poverty (criteria for the entry of a family into the social program). This also makes room for more people to take part in the cash transfer.

In early November, the government updated these criteria. Today, to enter Bolsa Família, the Cadastro Único considers people with a monthly income of R$100 per family member to be in extreme poverty.

Income between R$ 100.01 and R$ 200 is classified as a situation of poverty.

The text approved by the Chamber raises these ranges to R$ 105 per family member (extreme poverty) and R$ 210 (poverty). As a result, more people are able to receive the income transfer through Auxílio Brasil.

The approved version also relaxes the rules for calculating this per capita income. For example, occasional or seasonal rents are not included in the calculation.

Despite making the criteria for entry into the social program more flexible, the new text approved by the Senate determines that assistance to these families should only take place if there is a budget. That is, it opens the gap for the waiting queue again.

The Board of Directors of the Senate stated that the changes made by Rocha did not represent a change in the merits of the proposal, which would require a new assessment in the Chamber. Therefore, the MP has already gone to the sanction.

Despite having approved the MP that created Auxílio Brasil, the government needs to complete the congressional approval to increase the spending margin in the Budget and, with that, fulfill Bolsonaro’s promise to raise the average benefit of the program from the current level of R $220 a month for at least $400.

The expansion of the spending margin will take place through the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório, which was approved by the Senate on Thursday, but, due to changes made by the House, will need to be voted again by the Chamber.

With this PEC, it will be possible to expand the program’s budget to around R$ 86 billion next year, when Bolsonaro intends to run for re-election.

The bases of Auxílio Brasil follow the Bolsa Família format. Anyone who is already in the program created in the PT management is automatically transferred to Bolsonaro’s version.

Bolsonaro’s program changes the way in which each family’s benefit is calculated. Altogether, there will be nine types of benefits that, in the end, will be combined in the amount to be received.

However, the main difference between Auxílio Brasil and Bolsa Família is the government’s intention to increase funding for the program.

With an eye on the 2022 elections, Bolsonaro was advised by allies to allocate more resources to that area.

Its popularity rose at the height of emergency aid, but now it continues to decline — even with the increase in the Auxílio Brasil budget, the new program is still far from reaching the coverage of needy families that emergency aid had.

Approval of the provisional measure takes place minutes after the vote on the PEC dos Precatórios, a mechanism found by the government to pay the R$ 400 Brazilian Aid.

The PEC, however, still needs to be voted on again by the Chamber of Deputies.