Congress resists meeting Lula and boosting PAC with amendment – 12/05/2023 – Power

Parliamentarians have rejected President Lula’s (PT) proposal for the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) to be boosted with money from amendments. Even within the government’s political base, there are leaders who find it difficult for the Palácio do Planalto plan to be accepted by the majority of congressmen.

Deputies and senators have the right to allocate public funds to projects and works. With this, they end up irrigating their electoral strongholds and manage to increase their own political capital. This mechanism for using money from the Budget by parliamentarians is known as an amendment.

Lula launched an offensive, revealed by Sheetto try to convince congressmen to apply amendments to the PAC, its main showcase in the area of ​​infrastructure.

However, the incentives were considered unattractive, according to members of parties such as PP, Republicans, União Brasil, PSD, PDT, Solidariedade and Podemos.

There are different assessments behind the scenes. One wing says that, if he accepts the government’s offer, the parliamentarian’s gain through the amendment will be diluted, as Lula’s ministers will also reap the political fruits.

And they mention that members of the government’s top echelon continue to launch works across the country — including in Alagoas, the state of the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP) — without deputies being invited to the events.

Parliamentarians also say that directing the amendment to the PAC means that the guidelines are the responsibility of the government, not the deputy — therefore reducing their influence on the project. In the words of a cardinal from the Chamber, this movement removes the parliamentarian’s fingerprint on the amendment and puts the government’s stamp on it.

Party leaders cite that 2024 is a municipal election year. Therefore, the strategy will be to use the money from the amendments in projects and actions that have a more immediate impact on local disputes and that meet the demands of allied candidates.

Some members of Congress also state that the projects that are part of the PAC are generally not in parliamentarians’ preferences, especially if the infrastructure work is medium or large.

This is the reading of members of the PP and Republicans, for example. In September, each of these acronyms gained a Lula ministry in exchange for votes in Congress.

Even the government’s oldest allies suggest that the PT’s proposal is unlikely to gain traction.

“There is not enough time for deputies to analyze the works that are on the PAC list”, said the acting president of the PDT, André Figueiredo (CE). He took office when Carlos Lupi went to the Ministry of Social Security in January.

There is also a certain distrust among parliamentarians with the government’s proposal. Congressional leaders privately state that Palácio do Planalto has made a series of promises throughout the year that, in their opinion, were not fulfilled. That way, there would be no guarantee that this could be different now. They also complain about the Executive’s delay in releasing parliamentary amendments.

Furthermore, a large part of Congress, especially in the Chamber, counts on the support of mayors for their electoral plans. This group declares itself municipalist and, throughout its terms, seeks to respond to requests from allies in the states.

Therefore, it is common for parliamentarians to prefer to divide the money from amendments and distribute the funds to more cities.

This strategy has expanded since, during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), the possibility of special transfer was created, when the funds go directly to the coffers of city halls, without the need for a pre-approved project.

In other words, the mayor has the power to decide how to spend the money. This mechanism has also been called a blank check, as they are resources without a specific destination, which makes it difficult to monitor public spending.

Using the traditional method, the deputy or senator only obtains an amendment after the city hall presents a plan for the use of the money and, in most cases, this has to be analyzed by federal bodies, such as Caixa Econômica.

Especially in an election year, Congress looks for amendments that can be released more quickly. In June 2024, a period begins in which there are limitations on these transfers precisely because of the election.

The reading of centrão leaders and Lula’s allies is that the amendments to the PAC will still need time to mature. In this context, some parliamentarians cite the fear that Minister Marina Silva (Environment) will hinder the advancement of PAC projects.

“The works will get stuck. And next year there will be a municipal election. The deputies are looking at small actions in their municipalities, and not structuring works”, said deputy Evair de Melo (PP-ES), who is part of the opposition to Planalto in the camera.

In recent weeks, government members have been holding meetings with parliamentarians to present Lula’s proposal. In Congress, the measure has been called PAC Amendments.

The strategies include the guarantee that the appeal of the amendments will not be contingent and even federal counterparts, such as “pay 2, get 3” — the Executive, for example, promises to finance an additional polyclinic for every two units with resources from the Ministry of Health selected to receive bench amendments (which are jointly proposed by parliamentarians from a given state).

Leader of the MDB in the Chamber, Isnaldo Bulhões (AL) is one of the few deputies who came out in defense of Lula’s offer.

“I see it as a nice idea because the PAC doesn’t just have giant works. It has health clinics, basic health units. The volume of amendments in the PAC this year won’t be very large due to doubts that parliamentarians have. But if it has a good performance of execution, the next year it could increase”, he said.

According to the Civil House, responsible for the PAC, the offensive to seek amendments to the program’s works did not come unilaterally from the federal government. According to the department, it came about after many parliamentarians expressed that they would like to contribute with the resources.

In August of this year, the federal government launched the New PAC, with a forecast of R$1.4 trillion in investments by December 2026. Of this total, around R$370 billion will come from resources from the General Budget of the Union It is precisely this slice that the government intends to strengthen or share the account with the National Congress.