Senate approves PEC that guarantees basic income to the poor population

Unanimously, the Senate approved this Tuesday (9) a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that includes basic income for low-income people as a social right. The text goes to the Chamber, where it will need the support of 308 deputies.

If enacted, programs such as Auxílio Brasil, which will replace Bolsa Família, will become a state policy, no longer a government policy. With that, they cannot be extinguished.

“Whether it be Bolsa Família, Auxílio Brasil, or another new benefit to be created, there will be the same status that today have established policies such as unemployment insurance, the Continuous Cash Benefit, salary bonuses, retirement and pensions”, explained the rapporteur, Antonio Anastasia (PSD-MG).

The senator also argued that the change will result in more security for those receiving the benefit and prevent the program from being used for electoral purposes.

“Beneficiaries will be more secure about their rights, and rumors or rumors about the benefits, which have already damaged the lives of those receiving Bolsa Família, will end. The new status of cash transfers will give greater strength to this type of a policy that, in moments of fiscal adjustment, ends up competing for resources with expenses arising from the Constitution,” he said.

The approval of the PEC by the senators comes after the end of emergency aid and at a time of changes in the main social program in the country. According to an MP (provisional measure) published by the government in August, the 2004 law that created the Bolsa Família ceases to apply this Wednesday (10).

Instead, Auxílio Brasil was instituted, which has caused uncertainty among specialists about the form of financing and possible fiscal risks.

On Monday night (8), the government edited the decree that regulates and brings the details of the benefits of the new program, which goes into effect this month. The values ​​consider a readjustment of less than 20% in relation to Bolsa Família, previously announced. It was also not clear how it will be possible to raise the average benefit level to R$ 400 by the end of 2022.

The initial text of the PEC, presented by senator Eduardo Braga (MDB-AM) in 2020, established that expenses related to the basic income program would be outside the rules of the spending ceiling. The rapporteur, however, removed this provision from the text to avoid “confrontation and harm the necessary speedy progress of this proposal”.

The PT presented a highlight to try to keep the article, but it did not have the support of the majority.

“This program will only materialize, will only have life, if we remove it from the spending ceiling to ensure that this income can be made viable. The spending ceiling cannot be such a heavy anchor that it generates suffering and difficulties for the Brazilian people,” he argued Senator Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE).

The PEC dos Precatórios, which is being processed at the Chamber, is already dodging the spending ceiling to make possible Bolsonaro’s promise to raise the amount transferred by Auxílio Brasil to R$400 a month.

According to the text, the Constitution will be amended so that the annual federal expenditure ceiling will be corrected by the IPCA (Extended National Consumer Price Index) accumulated in 12 months from January to December.

Currently, the period used to calculate the annual limit considers the IPCA accumulated in 12 months up to June of the previous year.

In addition, the PEC sets a limit for the payment of court orders (debts of the Union recognized by the courts), which frees up more space in the Budget.

The two changes foreseen in the PEC —involving the spending cap and the court orders— have the potential to open a gap of more than R$90 billion next year, which should guarantee resources for the government’s new social program.