PDT’s request to suspend Auxílio Brasil consignment is denied by STF minister

Minister Kassio Nunes Marques, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), denied this Wednesday (26) a request by the PDT for an (urgent) injunction against the law that authorized the granting of payroll-deductible loans to beneficiaries of the Auxílio Brasil program.

The law was created from a provisional measure edited by the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL) and approved by Congress in July. In August, shortly before the end of the electoral convention period, the president signed the law into law.

In the request to the Supreme, the PDT argued that the measures are irresponsible, because they increase the probability of households indebtedness and could affect the entire economic system. The caption said that the law violates the economic order, consumer protection and human dignity.

In his decision, Kassio Nunes Marques states that the approval of the public policy for credit expansion “is inserted in a context of promoting assistance to families hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The option to pass the law, he says, seeks to “guarantee Brazilian families, who were experiencing difficulties (following the pandemic and high food prices), a cheap credit option, namely to pay off more expensive debts”.

“Incidentally, it should be noted that the alleged position of vulnerability of the target audience does not take away their capacity for initiative and self-planning. It is not appropriate to objectify the beneficiaries of the new assignable income margin: the existential value of their dignity grants them freedom and responsibility for the own choices”, said the minister.

The minister also argued that the Supreme Court should be cautious about the solutions found by the Legislature in relation to the elaboration and implementation of public policies.

According to the law sanctioned by Bolsonaro, payroll loans can be granted up to a limit of 40% of the benefit amount.

The text also releases this credit for those who receive the Continued Benefit and increases the margin of payroll-deductible credits for retirees and pensioners.

The measure provides, among other things, for the refund of amounts unduly credited to someone who has already died, as well as discounts after the death of the beneficiary as a result of a payroll loan or payroll credit card. The rule does not apply to financial amounts received by the family related to the benefits of the Auxílio Brasil Program.

Auxílio Brasil is one of the main bets of the president’s re-election campaign. Kassio Nunes Marques was the first Supreme Minister appointed by Bolsonaro in 2020.