The lack of consensus between the elected government and Congress led to the presentation of the definitive text of the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) of the Transition being postponed. According to the rapporteur for the 2023 Budget bill, senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), the final version of the PEC will not be released this Wednesday (23).
“Today will not be presented. No consensus was formed?? I have been advocating since the beginning that we spend our energies for consensus”, explained the senator.
According to Castro, the negotiations are moving forward, despite the fact that a consensus has not yet been reached. “In Congress, at times it seems that everything is easy and at other times everything is difficult. Today we are in the middle ground. The difficulty is that more dialogue is missing. There are people who say that only accepts Bolsa Familia, others accept more. I have a conservative stance. We are going to exceptionalize Bolsa Família from the ceiling and we need a minimum to recompose the Budget”, declared the senator.
The proposal filed last week by the vice-president-elect, Geraldo Alckmin, provides for the removal of R$ 175 billion from the spending ceiling to keep Bolsa Família at R$ 600 and pay an additional R$ 150 to families with children up to 6 years. In addition, the draft of the PEC provides for the exclusion of up to R$ 23 billion from the spending ceiling on extraordinary collection, which would be destined to federal investments (public works and purchase of equipment), totaling a cost of R$ 198 billion.
The Budget rapporteur said that Senate technicians recommended a duration of at least two years for the PEC. According to Castro, the idea is also defended by centrist senators. In addition, there are proposals filed by PSDB senators Alessandro Vieira (SE) and Tasso Jereissati (PSDB), with smaller impacts, of R$ 70 billion and R$ 80 billion, respectively.
Date
The senator did not indicate a new date for the PEC to be presented, but said that this needs to be done as soon as possible so as not to compromise the processing of the 2023 Budget. For Castro, the current project is unfeasible and does not have money for basic programs.
“It is unthinkable that 21 million families who receive aid today [de R$ 600] receive R$ 400 again. We have to contemplate that. Another objective is the recomposition of the Budget. The Budget that is here is unenforceable. There is no money for school meals, for the popular pharmacy”, he declared.
