Senate leaders demand slower processing of the PEC of Precatório

Opposing the rhythm of the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate bench leaders defended in a meeting this Friday morning (5) a more complete and slow process for the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório.

The bench leaders even demanded that the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), press for the reactivation of the CCJ (Committee on Constitution and Justice), to analyze the controversial proposal.

The Chamber of Deputies approved in the first round at dawn on Thursday (4) the basic text of the so-called PEC dos Precatórios, the government’s solution to finance President Jair Bolsonaro’s social program that will replace Bolsa Família, the Auxílio Brasil .

The forecast is that the federal deputies will continue the examination of the matter from next Tuesday (9), with the voting of the highlights and the second round.

Bolsonaro determined, in October, the increase of Auxílio Brasil to R$ 400, triggering a crisis between the political and economic wings of the government.

The solution to meet the president’s demand was to circumvent the spending ceiling, proposing a change in the calculation of the fiscal rule in the PEC dos Precatórios.

This PEC, which was already in the Chamber, provides for a limit for payment of court orders (debts of the Union recognized by the courts), which frees up more space in the Budget.

If it is finally approved in the Chamber, the proposal will face resistance in the Senate. Initially, Pacheco even stated that the PEC could have an abbreviated course, being taken directly to the vote in the House’s plenary.

In a press conference on Thursday night (4), the president said that the Senate has “urgency” to analyze a way out of the question of precatório, for the financing of a new social program and also with fiscal responsibility. However, he did not guarantee that the proposal will advance in the House he presides in the same way it was approved in the Chamber.

“When I refer to a sense of urgency it is because there is a sense of urgency not necessarily in relation to the PEC, it is in relation to the solution that needs to be given to the issue of court orders, the fiscal space for the solution of these court orders, the obligation of all we must respect the public spending ceiling and, fundamentally, [criar] a social program that fits into the budget and can reach people. So, the sense of urgency of the Senate is for the solution of these facts”, he affirmed.

The leaders’ meeting this Friday (5) was scheduled on the eve of Pacheco’s trip to Scotland, where he will attend the COP26.

During the meeting, the bench leaders pointed out that the proposal should be amended during its processing at the House. And they demanded hard for the resumption of the work of the CCJ, a commission chaired by ally Davi Alcolumbre (DEM-AP), which is at the center of the main controversies in the Senate, as it has been holding for almost four months the meeting of former minister André Mendonça for a vacancy at the Supreme Court.

In addition, Alcolumbre became the target of accusations of promoting a “split” scheme in his cabinet, including during the period in which he was president of the Senate, until February of this year. During the meeting, some senators again demanded Alcolumbre’s removal from the commission’s presidency.

The charge for the resumption of the CCJ —stopped for more than a month—, therefore, has a dual purpose. The reason most mentioned by the bench leaders during the leaders’ meeting was to enable a more detailed analysis of the PEC dos Precatório, which the senators want to avoid being run over by the government in the House, as happened in the Chamber.

In addition, with the resumption of the sessions, the pressure to put André Mendonça’s hearing on the agenda would increase even more. Pacheco has already scheduled a concerted effort to vote on the quizzes in three days between the end of the month and the beginning of December and said that “certainly” the committee chairs will hold the pending polls.

On the issue of the Emergency PEC, government officials argued during the meeting that the proposal should be processed quickly to enable the payment of the new social program.

In the Senate, however, there is great resistance to allow the advance of the controversial measure, especially with the prospect of a hole in the spending ceiling. Some lawmakers even mobilized to contain measures described as “populist”.

The leader of Citizenship, Alessandro Vieira (Cidadania-SE), submitted an application and began collecting signatures for the creation of a Parliamentary Front for the Defense of Fiscal Responsibility.