The Senate approved today (4) a complementary bill that makes it possible to transfer resources from other areas to finance the minimum wage for nursing professionals. The funds will come from the remaining amounts of state and municipal health funds, as well as remaining amounts from the National Social Assistance Fund. Now, the project goes to vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
The law that established a salary floor of R$4,750 for nurses in the public or private sector was approved in the National Congress in May, but in September, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) suspended the effects of the norm. In an injunction, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso argued that there was a lack of budget forecast.
Barroso responded at the request of the National Confederation of Health, Hospitals and Establishments and Services (CNSaúde). According to the minister, there is a risk of insolvency for states and municipalities, which employ the vast majority of public service nurses. The minister also justified the decision with the risk of mass layoffs and reduction of beds with the shrinking of the staff of nurses and technicians.
The complementary bill approved this Tuesday guarantees the appeals questioned by the Judiciary. The proposal amends a 2020 law that released around R$23.8 billion for actions to combat the covid-19 pandemic that remained at the end of 2020 in the health funds accounts of states, the Federal District and municipalities. With the reduction in the number of cases and deaths from covid-19, the understanding of the senators is that the money will be better applied to the salary readjustment of nursing.
“The carrying out of acts of transposition, transfer and reprogramming of ‘stopped’ financial balances in the Health and Social Assistance funds is still desired at the current moment, as the confrontation of the covid19 pandemic is not limited to the first line of action, which is heavily attacked in previous years”, stated the rapporteur of the bill, Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), in his opinion. According to the senator, initially, the mechanism will help subnational entities to bear the direct costs arising from the establishment of the national level of nursing professionals.
It is estimated to gather R$ 27.7 billion for the health area and R$ 402.2 million for social assistance, a sector included in the project to, according to the rapporteur, “minimize the effects of social lack of protection expanded by the pandemic”.
