Deputy Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE), rapporteur of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 1, which provides for the payment of social benefits until the end of the year, gave up making changes to the text. According to the deputy, the idea is to accelerate the promulgation of the Planalto Palace proposal and, consequently, the payments of benefits.
“Given the difficulties and the state of social commotion that we are experiencing on the issue of the need for aid, the most prudent thing is to speed up the vote”, said Forte, in a statement published by Agência Câmara. If the text were approved with changes in the Chamber of Deputies, it would have to go back to the Senate for a new analysis.
Later, the rapporteur spoke again with journalists and reiterated his intention. “I will keep exactly [o texto do Senado] due to the urgency of voting. He added that he studied the possibility of including application drivers among those benefited by the PEC, but, due to the difficulty of mapping these professionals and how many more would be to serve, he changed his mind.
Currently, the proposal is in the special commission, together with PEC 15, the so-called Biofuels PEC. PEC 15 was added to PEC 1, a strategy to accelerate the proposal reported by Forte to the plenary, since PEC 15 is already being processed in the special commission.
Forte’s idea is to read the report in the special commission later today, hold the debate and vote this week in order to take the PEC to the plenary next week.
“We are going to hold the last public hearing, we are going to read the report [na comissão especial] today and let’s have the debate. We will extend until Thursday, or Friday, to complete voting. I will fulfill my task, which is to guarantee the payment of benefits”, added the deputy, who considers it possible to appreciate the PEC in the plenary of the Chamber next week.
Proposal
The PEC brings a package of measures to reduce the impacts generated by the increase in fuel prices and increase the value of social benefits.
Initially, the core of the proposal was to compensate the states and the Federal District for the reduction of the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) on diesel, but it turned into a proposal to amend the Constitution to increase the payment of the Auxílio Brasil until the end of the year and pay a kind of fuel voucher for truck drivers and taxi drivers.
The proposal also brings the possibility of declaring a state of emergency, a device that was inserted in the text for the government not to run the risk of committing an electoral crime when transferring assistance benefits this year. The creation of such benefits is prohibited in an election year. The only exception is precisely during a state of emergency.
