Government wing supports PEC to expand gas aid and contain bus fares

After the Palácio do Planalto circumvented the economy to endorse a proposal to exempt fuel taxes, other branches of the government decided to support an even broader alternative text that includes gas aid for a greater number of families, subsidy to contain bus fares and diesel aid for truck drivers.

The new text, obtained by the leaf, was filed this Thursday (3) in the Federal Senate and also authorizes the cutting of tax rates on diesel, gasoline, ethanol and gas without the need for compensation for the loss of revenue.

The document bears the seal of the office of senator Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT), a supporter of the recently sworn in senator Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG), and has, behind the scenes, the blessing of the president of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). ).

Fávaro hopes to obtain the 27 signatures necessary for the PEC to begin processing by Monday (7).

Members of the political wing of the government are familiar with the text and support the measures that have been included.

The proposal, however, does not have the support of the team of Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy). The minister’s interlocutors describe the initiative as “the end of time”, given the potential impact on public accounts.

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) himself signaled on Wednesday (2) that he intended to expand the scope of the gas allowance, currently paid to 5.5 million families in extreme poverty.

“Every two months, at first, 5 million families receive the equivalent of half a bottle of gas. We intend to increase that from there. So our contact is with Petrobras and we are always looking for space in the Budget”, said the president. , in an interview with Voz do Brasil, without detailing the measures.

The conversations take place at a time when Bolsonaro appears in second place in the polls, behind former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

According to the PEC, the government could institute, in 2022 and 2023, a diesel allowance of up to BRL 1,200 monthly for self-employed truck drivers, expand the gas allowance and transfer BRL 5 billion to city halls to avoid a tariff on urban bus lines.

The measures could be financed with resources from the Social Fund, created in 2010 and supplied with resources from pre-salt exploration, and with revenues from dividends from Petrobras or from auctions of excess volumes of oil in areas of the so-called transfer of rights.

Expenditures would be outside the scope of the spending ceiling, the rule that limits the advance of expenditures to inflation and is considered a fiscal anchor for the government.

“Because it is an extraordinary measure, lasting until December 2023, financed from its own source that was never used to carry out any primary expenditure, it makes no sense to be subordinated to the spending ceiling, or to any other measure limiting realization. of expenses”, says the justification.

The proposal also provides for the possibility of cutting fuel taxes without the need to meet the requirements of the LRF (Fiscal Responsibility Law), which charges an increase in taxes to compensate for the loss of revenue. At this point, the text is similar to that filed in the Chamber of Deputies.

Government members who support the measures proposed in the Senate’s PEC assess that the text has great chances of advancing and that it would be difficult for Bolsonaro to act to stop it.

This is because the proposals benefit the population and it would be exhausting for the Chief Executive to prevent them from being implemented in an election year.

One of the devices is custom-designed to allay Bolsonaro’s fear, which is to become ineligible for granting benefits in the year the election takes place.

The text of the PEC expressly states that “the provisions of this Constitutional Amendment may be carried out in an election year”. With this, the authorization would go beyond the restrictions on spending in the election year provided for in laws hierarchically below the Constitution.

Members of the government had already been discussing how to implement measures such as the expansion of the gas allowance. The idea is to extend the benefit to all 17.5 million beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil – who are receiving a benefit of at least R$400 thanks to pressure from the political wing of the government, which defeated Guedes’ team and managed to change the ceiling. of spending.

The Bolsonaro government also has concerns about the risk of a tariff in an election year. Aides to the president had already been discussing ways to minimize the readjustments in the price of urban bus tickets that city halls will have to apply in 2022.

The Chief Minister of the Secretariat of Government, Flávia Arruda, met with mayors on January 28. At the time, according to participants at the meeting, she indicated the government’s willingness to provide the subsidy.

The mayors have been asking for help since last year, but intensified the articulations in the face of the soaring prices of diesel and the realization that some municipalities may have to readjust tariffs by almost 20% to maintain the balance of contracts.

The indication about the increases triggered an alert in the Palácio do Planalto, which fears a repetition of the 2013 demonstrations, when the readjustment of bus fares triggered protests that took over the country and contributed to the political crisis that culminated in the removal of the former president Dilma Rousseff (PT).

The FNP (Frente Nacional dos Prefeitos) calculates that the necessary transfer is around R$ 5 billion — exactly the amount included in the PEC.

The presentation of an alternative PEC in the Senate also exposes a new chapter of the House’s arm wrestling with the Chamber of Deputies.

This Thursday (3), deputy Christino Áureo (PP-RJ) filed a PEC that authorizes a wide exemption from taxes on fuel, with a potential impact of R$ 54 billion on government revenues.

The proposal was drafted in the Civil House, contradicting the agreement made with Guedes that the text would be restricted to diesel. A member of the economic team was surprised by the text and described the measures as “crazy”.