President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the governors of the 26 states and the Federal District decided today (27) to create a federative dialogue council, called the Federation Council, and an investment plan for common works by the federal government, states and municipalities. This information was supplied by the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, after the meeting held this Friday at the Planalto Palace.
According to Padilha, the council will be a permanent table with representation from the federal government, through President Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, six representatives from state governments, including one from each regional consortium, and six representatives from national entities of mayors. , which are the National Front of Mayors, the National Confederation of Municipalities and the Brazilian Association of Municipalities.
“It will be a unique and innovative instrument for us to discuss common agendas”, explained Padilha. The group is expected to have regular meetings in addition to expanded meetings with the 27 governors.
Construction
The investment plan for works will be led by the Minister of the Civil House of the Presidency, Rui Costa. From the 3rd to the 10th of February, the governors must forward their priority projects.
The guideline, according to the minister, is to resume more than 10,000 works at a standstill across the country, in the areas of education, health and social infrastructure (housing and sanitation) and invest in projects that can be carried out over the next four years, especially those within the scope of of the ecological transition and that impact on local and regional development. There is still no estimate of values, but the resources for this should come from different sources, such as financing policies, public-private partnerships, concessions and even parliamentary amendments.
As of February 13, bilateral meetings will be held with each governor, to close the proposals, conducted by Minister Rui Costa with the participation of the interested ministry. The idea is to have this backlog defined by the end of next month.
Padilha highlighted that there will be respect and appreciation for the public consortia built by the state and municipal governments and that the federal government will participate in the meetings of the regional forums. Those present at the meeting expressed the importance of rescuing tools that facilitate shared management of public resources and favor regional development.
movement for vaccination
The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, also participated in the meeting and, according to Padilha, proposed the launch of a national movement for vaccination. The idea is to mobilize society as a whole around the issue so that Brazil can once again achieve good immunization rates.
President Lula asked the governors to support public campaigns and seek different partnerships to publicize this agenda. “Vaccine is something of collective public health interest, we need to fight denialism and fake news”, said the minister.
In addition, the Ministry of Health will launch a national emergency program to reduce queues for diagnoses and surgeries in the Unified Health System. R$ 600 million will be allocated to states and municipalities, with an anticipation of R$ 200 million in February. According to Padilha, the supplementation of resources will be made according to the presentation of a plan and the performance of the states in carrying out the procedures.
ICMS
THE main agenda of the governors, taken to the meeting, was the loss of revenue by the states with the reduction in the rates of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), a state tax levied on fuel and other essential services. Last year, two complementary laws were approved that changed the system for charging ICMS on fuel and established a ceiling for the tax, leading to a “brutal drop in revenue in our states”.
It is estimated that, in 2022 alone, after the legislation comes into force, the collection losses in the state coffers exceeded BRL 33.5 billion.
According to Padilha, the recomposition of tax rates was not dealt with, but a commission of governors will be set up, under the leadership of the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, to discuss the issue within the scope of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
Processed in the Court two actions that question the constitutionality of the two complementary laws and has a technical group underway to build an agreement. “We are raising the level with a commission of governors in dialogue with STF ministers who are responsible for conducting this issue”, said Padilha.
In addition, Lula invited the governors to mobilize and participate in the discussion of tax reform that is already taking place in the National Congress.
Letter from Brasilia
During the meeting, Lula and the governors signed the Letter of Brasilia, a document in which they reinforce their commitment to the democratic rule of law and to the institutional and social stability of the country. After the coup attacks on January 8, governors came to Brasília in solidarity with the heads of the Three Powers .
“Democracy is a non-negotiable value. Only through the dialogue that it favors will we be able to prioritize economic growth with the reduction of our inequalities and the social ills that today impose suffering and hopelessness on a significant portion of the Brazilian population”, says the letter.
According to the text, this Friday’s meeting ratified the desire for an efficient and cooperative federative pact, which overcomes the country’s economic obstacles. “All our efforts will be guided by the development agenda to overcome unemployment, inflation, hunger and poverty in an integrated and permanently negotiated agenda”, he concludes.
