Value articulated by Congress for rapporteur amendments would zero the Brazil Aid queue

The government and Congress plan to leave 3.7 million poor families out of Auxílio Brasil in 2022, claiming there is no budget space to transfer income to this group, while parliamentarians study how to allocate an amount that could meet all this demand for the so-called rapporteur amendments —used by Jair Bolsonaro’s management to direct funds to allied base interests.

The most up-to-date government estimates indicate that, strictly speaking, 21.6 million families would have the right to the social program next year, if the rules approved by the Chamber had been maintained.

They are the raising of the poverty line from R$ 200 to R$ 210 (which increases the audience) and the determination that the waiting list is permanently zeroed.

Through the government’s articulation in the Senate, the project once again allowed a waiting list. This means that, next year, only 17.9 million should be contemplated — the same expectation announced months ago by the Ministry of Citizenship.

To meet the entire demand of 21.6 million families, paying the minimum of R$400, an additional R$14.3 billion would be needed in the program, in addition to the budget already planned. The government is currently working with R$ 89.3 billion for Brazil Aid in 2022, according to the latest estimates.

Meanwhile, Congress seeks to secure up to R$16.2 billion in rapporteur amendments.

This was the maximum amount presented by the general rapporteur of Budget 2022, Deputy Hugo Leal (PSD-RJ), in a preliminary opinion of last Friday (3). The values ​​will compete with other expenses.

Leal has signaled to allies that there is little room in the Budget to guarantee the BRL 16.2 billion for this type of amendment, used in political negotiations.

The latest version of the Budget bill does not yet guarantee money for these amendments.

To reach this level, it will be necessary to make cuts in other areas of the Budget. Therefore, the team that prepares the accounts for expenditures in 2022 is trying to reach an agreement with leaders so that the amount is close to R$7 billion.

In the government, however, there is talk of the possibility of the value being between R$ 15 billion and R$ 16 billion. In any case, it will be necessary to cut other expenses — an adjustment that may also occur in mandatory ones, a move that raises concerns in the Executive.

For the year 2021, the government and Congress delayed the processing of the Budget precisely for reasons such as underestimated mandatory expenses while funds were reserved for amendments by the rapporteur.

After a long negotiation with allies, the text was only approved and sanctioned in April of this year, a record delay in the last 15 years.

In 2022, the scenario is different. Congressional leaders want to speed up the calendar and approve the next year’s spending authorization by next week. The motivation is the deadline for releasing parliamentary amendments, which is shorter given the electoral calendar.

The numbers are discussed under the premise that the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório, which aims to expand federal expenditures, will be approved.

The justification for the PEC, seen as a dribble on the roof, was precisely to serve the most vulnerable of the population.

The Senate authorized the program to have queues if there are no budget resources available in a change articulated by the government leader in the Senate, Fernando Bezerra (MDB-PE), and by Minister João Roma (Citizenship).

“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, when defending the change in the bill made in the Senate.

With that, the government got rid of the task of finding money in the 2022 Budget to serve all families that meet the criteria of Auxílio Brasil.

Despite the difficulty of space in the spending ceiling, congressional leaders insist on maintaining the BRL 16 billion threshold for rapporteur amendments — the same level as 2021.

Parliamentary amendment is the way in which deputies and senators manage to allocate money from the federal budget for works, projects and other interests in their political bases.

As 2022 is an election year, the release of amendments must be suspended from July.

The use of this money in actions aimed at the bases of deputies and senators expand the political capital of congressmen on the eve of the election.

Today there are four types of amendments: individual (which every deputy and senator is entitled to), bench (parliamentary from each state define priorities for the region), commission (defined by members of the congressional bodies) and rapporteur (created by influential congressmen from 2020 to benefit their electoral strongholds).

With little transparency, the rapporteur’s amendments became the target of the STF (Supreme Federal Court) —which demanded the publication of information, such as what congressmen request and data on the execution of appeals.

The Federal Police, on the other hand, investigates whether there were irregularities in the use of rapporteur’s amendments by deputies and senators.