The National Congress enacted this Thursday (16) the second part of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório, which postpones the payment of debts of the Union already recognized by the Justice and, thus, makes room in the Budget for promises by the president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
This measure frees up another R$43.8 billion in expenses next year and paves the way for the government to expand the coverage of Auxílio Brasil, a social program that replaced Bolsa Família.
The plan now is to include more families in the cash transfer program. Currently, Auxílio Brasil serves 14.5 million families. That number is expected to reach 17 million by the end of the year. Over 2022, it could rise to nearly 17.9 million, according to government projections.
The enactment session was attended by the presidents of the two legislative houses, senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) and deputy Arthur Lira (PP-AL).
Lira commented on the fact that there were divergences between the texts of the two Houses, but stressed that an agreement was possible for the approval and enactment of the PEC.
“I would like to congratulate the position of the two Houses in maintaining frank dialogue, of course, on a subject that has been debated for so long, with so many versions,” stated Lira.
“It is important to highlight the efficient performance of the two Legislative Houses, solving not only what was urgent, but also what is important, that is, the improvement of mechanisms to deal with recurring problems of budget adequacy to judicial and assistance requirements”, completed.
Pacheco, in turn, also commented on the option of slicing the proposal, which made him the target of criticism from some lawmakers, as they considered that the measures included by the senators might not be kept in the Chamber after the enactment of the first part. He and senator Simone Tebet (MDB-MS), both presidential candidates, even discussed in plenary, with her accusing the president of the House of “not honoring agreements”.
“Due to the urgency of the measures, it was decided to divide the text of PEC 23/2021, so that the points on which there was already an agreement could take effect immediately, while consensus was built on the other aspects”, stated Pacheco .
“The solution respected the political time and the legislative process, guaranteeing, at the same time, the fulfillment of more immediate needs, with regard to budgetary issues and the imperative of meeting the requirements of public policies within the limits of fiscal responsibility”, he added.
Along the same lines, Pacheco also wanted to emphasize that the part enacted this Thursday opens even more space for the social program and also incorporates the suggestion made in the Senate to make the program permanent.
With the enactment of the PEC, the Ministry of Citizenship intends to accelerate the process of inclusion of these families and the operation, which involves Caixa and Dataprev, to make payments by the end of December. However, there is still no timetable for the transfer to these new beneficiaries.
For the 2022 Budget, the government estimates an average benefit of R$415 monthly per family. The amount of R$400 promised by Bolsonaro is the minimum paid to those who are in the program.
The expansion of Auxílio Brasil is a bet by the president and his allies to try to boost Bolsonaro’s candidacy for reelection in 2022. To support the idea, it was necessary to approve an adjustment in the spending schedule for next year.
The PEC dos Precatórios was the solution found to authorize the government to spend more in 2022. With the enactment of the second part of the PEC, the full effect of the proposal is reached — more than R$ 106 billion were released in expenses that were not being accounted for in the preparation of the Budget.
The PEC had two pillars. One of them, which was enacted last week, allows a dribble in the spending ceiling, making a retroactive recalculation of that limit.
The other measure, which was enacted on Thursday (16), creates a maximum amount for the payment of court orders – debts that do not appear on this list will be postponed and paid in later years.
This limiter for the discharge of debts must be challenged in court. The president of the National OAB Precatory Commission, Eduardo Gouvêa, said on Thursday that he intends to file a lawsuit with the STF (Supreme Federal Court) against the measure, with a request for an injunction.
“The preliminary injunction is fundamental, because taking a long time to judge is as bad as not deciding anything. If you let the problem be created, then it is much more difficult to correct it,” he said.
According to him, the idea is to focus on the unconstitutionalities that have already been recognized by the STF in the judgment of previous amendments on the subject.
The slicing of the PEC occurred because of changes made in the Senate to the text that had already been previously approved by the Chamber.
The senators fully maintained the part that circumvents the spending ceiling and releases BRL 62.2 billion in 2022.
The Chamber then needed to vote this Tuesday (14) and Wednesday (15) on the changes made to the pillar that deals with the limit on payment of court orders, responsible for opening BRL 43.8 billion for new expenses in next year’s Budget in light of the postponement settlement of debts.
Despite the impact of the PEC on the expansion of expenditures in 2022, the amount is insufficient to meet Bolsonaro’s promise to readjust civil servants, to expand parliamentary amendments and to increase the resources of the fund for financing the electoral campaign.
Therefore, Congress will have to make further cuts in the expenses already foreseen in next year’s Budget project.
According to the text of the PEC, it is clear that the increase in expenses in 2022 will be linked to mandatory expenses, the social area and the extension of the exemption from the payroll.
The text also provides for a mechanism for linking expenses that will no longer be paid in court orders to cover expenses with the social program and in the area of social security, such as pensions, between 2023 and 2026.
The payment of debts linked to Fundef (fund in the education area) will be outside the expenditure ceiling. This represented a defeat for the team of minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) who resisted this measure, but had to give in to approve the text in Congress.
For 2022, there are more than R$17 billion in debt from Fundef transfers to states and municipalities. The PEC, however, splits this account in three years.
The economic team has the space of R$ 106.1 billion to be able to accommodate all the expenses foreseen for 2022.
To ensure the expansion of Auxílio Brasil, the government needs an additional R$ 51.1 billion.
Another R$ 48.6 billion will be allocated to the correction of social benefits for inflation, the expansion of the spending ceiling of other powers (due to the change in the rule) and the adjustment to the constitutional minimum for health and education.
There is also an extra bill of R$5.3 billion to pay for the extension of the payroll exemption for companies, a measure already agreed upon between the government and the National Congress.
According to leaf revealed, the vote of the first round of the original PEC was maneuvered by Lira to increase the chances of approval of the measure.
The text, a priority of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, Lira’s ally, passed through the Chamber in the first round with a slack of only four votes — 312 favorable votes (at least 308) — in the early hours of November 4th.
Remote voting, as defined by Lira, allowed deputies “in performance” on an official mission trip to vote without registering presence in the plenary’s biometric identification system.
Last week, the PDT filed in the STF a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality against the PEC, with a request for an injunction. The party questions the fairness of the procedure and the purpose of expanding the Budget.
collaborated Eduardo Cucolo
POINTS PROmulgated Last Week
1) Change in the spending ceiling index
what is the ceiling: constitutional rule approved in 2016 that limits the increase of most federal expenditures to the inflation of the previous year
how is today: the ceiling is corrected by the inflation measured by the IPCA in 12 months until June of the previous year
how is it: the amount is recalculated, retroactively, based on the IPCA from January to December; in practice, it widens the roof.
2) Refills to municipalities
what does the PEC say: possibility for municipalities to pay debts to the Union in installments if they approve local Social Security reforms
Conditions: municipalities will have to demonstrate specific changes in social security rules. One is that municipal employees will not be able to pay lower rates than federal employees
POINTS PROmulgated on this Thursday
1) Ceiling for payment of court orders
what is precatory: debts of the Union already recognized by the courts and without possibility of appeal
how is today: court orders entered in the Budget are paid
how is it: a maximum amount to be paid in the year is created (calculation is based on the amount paid in court judgments in 2016 and corrects this number for inflation); the court orders that fall outside this limit must be paid in other years
2) Linkage of expenses released after the PEC
what does the PEC say: the BRL 106 billion to be authorized after the completion of the entire PEC would only be used for some expenses
list of expenses: mandatory expenses (retirements, pensions and expenses linked to inflation), Brazil Aid and payroll exemption
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