Congress delays consideration of vetoes on fake news and railroads

The National Congress postponed the consideration of the veto of a section of the National Security Law on the disclosure of fake news. This veto was expected to be considered today (14), but the president of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), responded to a request from the minority bench in the House. After agreement, this veto was left to be considered at another opportunity.

“We are analyzing the merits of the piece and evaluating the correlation of forces of today’s session with the purpose of not allowing the maintenance of the veto, I am proposing here an agreement that includes the postponement of the consideration of veto 46, the law of the democratic rule of law , and also the postponement of the appreciation of the veto of the railroads”, said deputy Afonso Florence (PT-BA), leader of the minority.

Veto

The President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, vetoed a device that criminalized fake news during the elections, of the law that defined crimes against the democratic rule of law, Law 14.197/2021. The vetoed passage provided for five years in prison for anyone who committed the crime of “mass deceptive communication”, a crime defined as the promotion or financing of a campaign or initiative to disseminate untrue facts that are capable of compromising the electoral process.

Another veto that had the analysis postponed concerns the Legal Framework for Railways. Among the provisions barred by the president is the one that provided that “the final destination of the goods related to the disabled or returned section must be determined by the railway regulator”. Documentary requirements considered non-essential for obtaining authorizations were also vetoed.

The legal framework for railroads, sanctioned in December last year, seeks to facilitate private investments in the construction of new railroads, in the use of idle stretches and in the provision of rail transport services. This legislation allows the construction of new railways by authorization, as occurs in the exploitation of infrastructure in sectors such as telecommunications, electricity and ports.

ICMS

The parliamentarians appreciated and overturned three items of the veto to the Complementary Law Project 18 of 2022, on the compensation of the Union to the states for the ceiling fixing in the rate of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) on items considered essential.

There was, however, a postponement of the vote on three other items of the same veto, which will be left for another session due to the opposition’s prominence. The provisions with deferred voting determine the use of the transfer of this compensation to maintain the minimum investments in health and education, as provided for in the Constitution.

As Congress goes into recess starting next week, these vetoes do not have a new date set to be considered. Parliamentarians return from recess in early August.

*with information from the Câmara de Notícias Agency