Congress defends smaller PEC and transition sees lower value as viable

The elected government began to consider the scenario of approving a more streamlined version of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Transition, which seeks to pave the way for the fulfillment of electoral promises in the coming years. The size of the extra expenses could drop from the requested BRL 198 billion to a level between BRL 135 billion and BRL 150 billion.

The smallest allowance for expenses outside the ceiling (constitutional norm that prevents expenses from growing above inflation) would be a new limitation to the PEC proposed by the elected government. The PT had already admitted behind the scenes to give in to the duration of this exceptional license – before four years, the period should be limited to two years.

The text of the PEC should be voted on by the Senate’s CCJ (Constitution and Justice Commission) this Tuesday (6th) and may be taken to a plenary vote on Wednesday (7th). This Monday (5), the general rapporteur for the 2023 Budget, senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), said that the duration of the proposal’s effects should be halved.

“We are working for the PEC to be approved for two years. Today [segunda] it will be a day of articulations, of negotiations, of talking to the senators, of counting the votes so that tomorrow [terça] we can approve it, if possible, in the Constitution and Justice Commission”, said Castro to the press.

Castro and Silveira met this Monday with the presidents of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD), of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP) and of the CCJ of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), and with Senator Jaques Wagner (PT -BA), which has been scheduled to negotiate the text by the elected government.

Interlocutors from the elected government have already received the signal that senators from the base of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) should ask for a view (more time for analysis). In this case, the PEC could be voted in the CCJ on Wednesday morning and in the Senate plenary on Wednesday afternoon (7).

Silveira said that his report will be built with “dialogue and absolute respect for peers” and that it has “an absolute dimension of what this matter represents for the people”. Mineiro is one of the closest to Pacheco and Alcolumbre. His name has been floated to head one of the ministries that should be reserved for the PSD.

The final amount is still up for debate. But the team of economists from the transition group has already informed the political wing that a value between R$135 billion and R$150 billion would cover the main campaign promises —decompressing the pressure on the public debt, which would be greater with a value close to BRL 200 billion.

The final amount, however, will still depend on negotiations involving the current government and Congress. Asked about a change in the value of the PEC, Castro replied that there is nothing to that effect.

Last week, the Bolsonaro government carried out a new budget block of R$ 5.72 billion to comply with the spending ceiling rule and also signaled that it intends to cut RP9 amendments, the so-called rapporteur amendments.

Within the restrictions at the end of the year, some political groups understand that the PEC that changes the spending limits for the 2023 Budget could also include additional spaces to resolve the limitations of the 2022 Budget and preserve the rapporteur’s amendments.

According to reports gathered by the Sheet, the rapporteur for the Transition PEC, Senator Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG), has already evaluated the different options that have been presented in recent days. Silveira even made contact with members of the Ministry of Economy to sound out alternatives.

In the portfolio of the current Minister Paulo Guedes, the proposal considered reasonable is that of Senator Tasso Jereissati (PSDB-CE). He filed a PEC in the Senate that expands the ceiling by BRL 80 billion in 2023.

A PEC authored by Senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF) and the Elas no Budget group is also being discussed in the House, which proposes a limit of up to R$ 125 billion outside the ceiling and brings parameters for a new fiscal regime that should be implemented by supplementary law.

Another text under discussion is Senator José Serra’s proposal (PSDB-SP), which would open an extraordinary credit of R$ 100 billion for income transfer programs and determines that the new government will have six months to send a new fiscal anchor based on the indebtedness limit in place of the current spending ceiling.

Collaborated by Thiago Resende, Thaísa Oliveira and João Gabriel