Bolsonaro will have to set priorities, says Senate government leader on increase for civil servants

Rapporteur of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the precatoria, the leader of the government in the Senate, Fernando Bezerra Coelho (MDB-PE), said that it is possible to grant readjustments to civil servants next year, but that president Jair Bolsonaro (no party ) will need to decide which measures will be a priority and which will be out of the 2022 Budget. Bezerra warns that there is not enough room to increase expenditures next year.

“The president, he will always have to choose, because discretionary expenses [aquelas que não são obrigatoriedade do governo], the mandatory ones are very tight,” said the government leader, when asked about Bolsonaro’s promise to use the space in the Budget to grant adjustments.

The Planalto Palace has the approval of the PEC, which releases around R$ 90 billion in 2022. But the government and Congress are already vying for these resources. The money is not enough to cover the promises of Bolsonaro, who is already on the pace of an electoral campaign, and the wishes of the party leaders, who want resources for parliamentary amendments and a large fund for campaign financing.

“What we understand in the readings we are doing is that space within the Public Budget is very scarce and priorities will need to be defined when discussing the budget piece that will take place by the end of December,” stated Bezerra.

The government leader’s statement comes after Bolsonaro stated that he wants to use the space in the Budget, which will be opened with the approval of the PEC dos Precatório, to grant salary increases.

This Tuesday (16), the president reinforced that he works to serve all servers. Folha found out that the chief executive wants an adjustment for police officers.

“Then we can answer [com a PEC dos Precatórios] the most needy, we can meet the budget issue, we even think about obviously, given the space that is left, partially serving the servers”, he said, in a press interview given during his participation in Expo 2020, an international exhibition that takes place in the emirate of Persian Gulf.

There is also pressure to hire those approved in public examinations by the Federal Police, Federal Highway Police and Federal Penitentiary Department. The government seeks space in the Budget to meet this request from President Bolsonaro’s support base.

The PEC dos Precatórios is currently the main agenda of interest of President Jair Bolsonaro in Congress. It authorizes the government to spend more and makes possible government promises in the social area, such as the increase in Brazil Aid, which seek to boost Bolsonaro’s reelection campaign in 2022.

The version of the PEC approved by the Chamber foresees an expansion of around R$ 90 billion in expenses for next year. However, the government faces resistance in the Senate to pass the proposal.

The trend today is for the bill to be dehydrated by the senators, which further reduces the space for Bolsonaro’s priority measures.

Government interlocutors already admit that it will not be possible to approve the PEC in the format that passed through the Chamber. The current version allows an increase of R$ 90 billion in expenses in 2022, the year in which President Jair Bolsonaro intends to run for re-election.

In the ongoing negotiations with senators, government articulators returned to studying the proposal that places payment with court orders outside the spending ceiling — a rule that limits the growth of public spending. Precatório are debts of the Union already recognized by the Justice.

This is one of the solutions evaluated by government leaders to resolve the impasse in the Senate, which is resisting approving the most important bill for Bolsonaro currently in Congress. The economic team resists this idea.

Another challenge for the government is to prevent the PEC from having to return to the Chamber. The changes being evaluated in the Senate represent an alteration to the text already approved by the deputies. For this reason, the proposal would again need to be voted on in the Chamber, which would further delay the measures that make it possible to pay R$400 in Brazil Aid as promised by Bolsonaro from December onwards.

The Minister of Citizenship, João Roma, who is temporarily away, was in the Senate this Tuesday (16) to try to negotiate more speed in the processing of the PEC dos Precatório. It avoided establishing maximum deadlines for the proposal to be approved, thus allowing payment of the benefit in December. Nor did he comment on any alternative plans, in case of delays in approving the measure in the Senate.

“I don’t work with hypotheses. I work with data, with facts. We are engaged, the entire ministry team, in a gigantic operation to make payment viable for the millions of people. So we are very concerned that the senators can be sensitized and approve this matter in the shortest possible time,” he said.

“Not [coloquei data-limite] because that would be putting the Senate in check. I explained to the president the gravity of the situation and asked the senators for all his efforts. I believe that senators will not be lacking with those most in need. We need to approve this PEC to enable the minimum payment of 400 reais for all program beneficiaries”, he added.

This Monday (15), the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), stated that it is not time to make the spending ceiling more flexible — which is provided for in the PEC for court orders. “We will be able to re-discuss the public spending ceiling and, eventually, be able to make it more flexible. But this is not the current moment,” he said, at an event in Portugal.

In order to increase expenses for next year by around R$90 billion, the PEC has two main pillars. One measure allows for a dribble in the spending ceiling, retroactively recalculating that limit. The other measure creates a maximum value for the payment of court orders, which are federal debts recognized by the courts.

If the Senate overturns one of these pillars (which changes the spending cap formula), the effect of the PEC will be reduced to around R$ 45 billion. In other words, the government would find it even more difficult to accommodate Bolsonaro’s promises and Congress’ demand for amendments — a resource used by deputies and senators to send money for works and projects in the electoral base.

Bezerra met this Tuesday morning (16) with senators who presented alternative proposals providing for the payment of benefits from the new social program, although without allowing for excessive space in the budget. Senators Alessandro Vieira (Cidadania-SE), José Aníbal (PSDB-SP) and Oriovisto Guimarães (Podemos-PR) participated.

After the meeting, participants stated that new ideas emerged and that everyone will analyze the material presented to seek consensus in a new round of discussions on Wednesday (17).

“There were some ideas that the government will analyze. The government has brought some information that will merit an analysis by the senators, in order to get closer. But I can guarantee that there is a willingness on both sides to build a great understanding in relation to the proposal of the PEC 23”, stated Bezerra.

“It is important to underscore that all three senators expressed commitment to support additional resources from Auxílio Brasil, in recognition of the difficulties faced by the poorest and that there will be no shortage of resources for this. Evidently, doubts persist about the fair and necessary adequate fiscal space, but I was in charge of deepening this information and we are going to meet again tomorrow so that we can then reach an understanding, which can define the processing of the PEC”, he added.

In the speech to convince allies to approve the PEC, the government has told congressmen that, without the proposal, there will not be resources to keep the volume of parliamentary amendments at a level as high as in recent years. The expansion of resources in amendments was one of the factors that led Bolsonaro to obtain a more consistent ally base in Congress.

Despite the efforts of government articulators, Oriovisto Guimarães stated that it is very likely that the PEC dos Precatórios will undergo changes during its processing in the Senate and that it needs to be approved again in the Chamber of Deputies. The senator from Paraná states that the margin of votes is very narrow and that for this reason the government will be forced to negotiate and give in on certain points.

“Today, if you are going to do this counting of votes in the Senate, it is very divided. The difference is one or two votes for one side or the other. I think that in a situation like this, the normal thing for the government is to negotiate. If it had an advantage. out of 10, 15 votes, I think he could say ‘look, I’m not going to consider any other opinion, it’s my project, I approve as it stands because I have a majority'”, he said.

“The chances that this PEC will have to return to the Chamber are very, very large. It’s the most I can say,” he added.

Oriovisto also stated that the three senators who met with the government leadership are seeking changes to the text, in order to preserve the spending ceiling, to regulate the controversial RP9 amendments and also seek that aid to the most needy “be permanent and non-electoral “.

“We want to preserve the spending ceiling, somehow regulate the [emendas] RP9, which is something that has to end, and we want the aid to be permanent and not voters”.

“We all want the aid to exist, we recognize that people are starving. The discussion is how to do this and avoid any other tortoise that does not have the purpose of giving aid,” he said.

“We can’t give this aid as an excuse to do other things, raise wages, do a series of electoral benefits. That’s what we want to avoid,” he added.

Oriovisto also stated that everything is under negotiation with the government, including the reduction of open space in the budget.

Bolsonaro’s allies believe that the PEC anticipated the 2022 electoral contest. Parties like the PSDB, Podemos and MDB intend to launch candidates for the Presidency of the Republic.

Without the support of these benches, the government will have even more difficulty in getting the PEC approved in the Senate.

Last week, it was decided that the PEC of precatório will be processed in the CCJ (Committee on Constitution and Justice) of the Senate, before being forwarded to the plenary. This procedure was a demand of bench leaders, who opposed what they describe as “running over” the analysis.

The president of the CCJ, Davi Alcolumbre (DEM-AP), stated that the commission will analyze the PEC dos Precatórios on the 24th.

According to Bezerra’s calendar, it is still possible for the PEC to be voted on in the House’s plenary until December 2nd.