35% of laws sanctioned in Brazil in 2023 are “useless”

Of the 242 laws sanctioned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) until December 20, 2023, 85 were laws with low or zero impact on the functioning of the country. This means that 35% of the laws approved by the Legislature are irrelevant to the majority of Brazilians. In the corridors of the National Congress, comments are increasing about the legislative unproductivity of 2023. Those who closely follow the activities of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate saw a year of work with few relevant agendas. The disappointment becomes even greater when remembering the expectations at the beginning of the legislature that pointed to “the most right-wing Congress in history”.

There were 17 laws to define national capitals throughout Brazil. Among them, the municipality of Lagoa Dourada (MG) as the capital of rocambole, São Luís (MA) as the capital of reggae, and Monte Sião (MG) is now the capital of knitting fashion. In the state of Paraná alone, four municipalities became national capitals: Arapongas is the national furniture capital, Carlópolis for table guava, Cerro Azul for ponkan and Cruz Machado for shaded yerba mate.

In the category for changing the names of roads or routes, 15 laws were sanctioned. Typically, these laws were proposed with the aim of honoring some important figure in the region. Another 33 that came into force this year will serve to celebrate the day, week or month of a specific agenda. National Sweets Day will be celebrated on June 6th and National Pathfinders Day on September 20th.

Felipe Rodrigues, master in Legislative power, explains that although these laws have a low impact on the majority of Brazilians, they were created to please small groups. He says that, in political science literature, one of the profiles of political representatives is the “federal councilor”. “The parliamentarian in this profile has an extremely municipalist role, which is evident both in the allocation of resources to fill holes, and in the presentation of bills that are sectorized and municipalist”, he explains.

Use of “pau de arara” transport in pilgrimages is now a cultural manifestation

“How many of these laws, approved and sanctioned in 2023, solve major problems in the country? How many actually resolve complex and historically rooted issues?” asks Rodrigues. He also adds that the number of laws approved is very high, which makes it even more difficult for citizens to follow what is being decided by Parliament.

Today, a federal deputy receives a gross monthly salary of R$41,650.92. In addition to his own salary, there is a quota available for work in the offices of just over R$118 thousand, which amounts to almost R$1.5 million per deputy annually. The salary of the 81 senators is the same as that of 513 federal deputies. The monthly office budget in the Senate can reach R$73,000 for expenses such as air tickets, for example. The value of R$73 thousand does not include expenses with hiring servers.

Based on the approved proposals, this amount disbursed by taxpayers does not appear to be being used well – and there is no shortage of important topics to be proposed and voted on in Brazil.

Law 14,641/23, for example, also sanctioned this year, declares the use of “pau de arara” transport in religious pilgrimages as a cultural manifestation. Still in relation to culture, names such as Antonieta de Barros, Dulcina de Moraes and Maria Beatriz Nascimento and Margarida Alves were included in the book “Heróis e Heroínas da Pátria”. A steel book that is located in the Pantheon Monument, located in Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília, and contains the names of personalities who played a significant role in the history of Brazil. Despite this, some Brazilians would need the help of research sites to find out who the personalities mentioned were.

“These projects have ideological markers. These projects fulfill some representation role. Whether to bring the deputy closer to his base, to account for some campaign promises or for another purpose”, highlights Rodrigues. Still on the cultural front, in 2023 they approved the law that recognizes the June festivals as a cultural manifestation and another that recognizes forró.

Legislative quality is not related to the quantity of projects

Rodrigues recalls that countless projects of this type are presented daily in both Legislative Houses. “If we already find this percentage [35%] of laws sanctioned with low impact, imagine the percentage of projects presented. It’s even bigger. Precisely because for the project to become law is a much more difficult process. Many are presented and few are approved”, he explains.

For the political scientist, the quantity of projects presented is not a clear indication of the quality of representation. “Because there may be a deputy, for example, who presents a thousand bills in a year. But how many of these projects are of quality and solve structural problems in Brazil?”, he asks.

The demands of a parliamentarian go beyond the creation of bills. Deputies and senators also manage part of the budget that municipalities can receive and can simply represent ideas from Parliament. “A significant number of parliamentarians were elected precisely because of what they said in plenary, because they simply gave voice to the ideas of their voters”, he reinforces.

Creation of committees complicates the legislative process

In 2023, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-PI), created five more permanent committees. The number of permanent committees increased from 25 to 30. Most of the projects that are processed in the House only go through committees and are not discussed in the plenary.

Felipe Rodrigues considers that, although it seems that the discussions will become more specialized, in practice, this makes voting on some projects unfeasible, because they will need to go through more committees, in addition to dispersing the power of the collegiate bodies. Another point is that the places where the commissions take place are limited and this causes there to be a struggle for space between them to take place.

With more difficulty in approvals in committees, deputies and senators use legislative instruments to take proposals of interest directly to the plenary. However, when the projects go to the plenary, the presidents of the House have more control, as they choose the agenda in that instance. This way, they have more power in their hands to negotiate and make exchanges that interest them. There is also a tradition that projects discussed in plenary have consensus in meetings of party leaders so that they are not rejected.