Congress opens the mouth of an alligator to increase amendments – 11/04/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

Deputies and senators plan to increase the amount that the government is obliged to send to parliamentarians’ electoral bases by R$17 billion. The ongoing discussions in Congress foresee that two more types of amendments can fall into the category of impositions — that is, they must necessarily be paid for, without interference from the Planalto.

The alligator’s mouth has opened in the last decade. During the Dilma Rousseff government, congressmen made payment for individual amendments mandatory, divided among parliamentarians. Today, this cake corresponds to R$21.2 billion. Each deputy is entitled to R$32 million, and each senator can direct R$59 million to their strongholds.

With the change, Congress bit an arm of the Executive. Parliamentarians now have a guaranteed budget for their voters, regardless of their behavior in the plenary. Previously, the government rewarded loyal deputies and senators. From then on, the opposition was entitled to the same money.

The reduction in Planalto’s power caused Congress to start devoting energy to internal business and encouraged the creation of leaders willing to lead these interests. In 2019, parliamentarians approved the mandatory amendments for each state’s benches, currently worth R$7.6 billion.

Instead of satisfying appetite, the new funding gave impetus to expansion. After losing access to the rapporteur’s nebulous amendments, Congress is now discussing making the amendments from the House and Senate committees mandatory (R$7.5 billion) and creating a type of mandatory amendment that would be shared by the leaders of each party ( R$9.8 billion).

Lula bombarded the center’s hunger for the Budget during the campaign, but he will hardly have the strength to face the new gluttony. While the head of the PT accused Congress of serving individual interests, the president met with party leaders, defended the sharing of government positions and asked for support to preserve 2024 expenses.

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