Congress urges Lula to rush with new amendment system – 04/05/2023 – Power

Members of allied and opposition parties to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in Congress demand haste and clear criteria for the new system designed by the government to allocate funds to parliamentarians, while at the same time predicting difficulties in implementing the mechanism.

As shown to Sheetthe Planalto Palace decided that the new way of directing money for congressmen to irrigate works and projects in their electoral bases will simulate the parliamentary amendments.

But, in an attempt to shield himself from any accusations of corruption related to these transfers, Lula wants to disclose the name of the public agent who sponsored the operation — which could be that deputy, senator or mayor.

Parliamentarians heard by the report point to this safeguard of transparency proposed by Lula as something that could create difficulties for the petista.

If Planalto publishes a list of godparents, assess members of the Legislative, this could lead to another problem for Lula, since the PT may be charged for a balanced distribution between base and opposition congressmen.

The Executive traditionally privileges allies and the high clergy of Parliament in the payment of amendments.

Furthermore, the publication of the names of the congressmen who request the transfers tends to show political negotiations around important votes, which can generate wear and tear for the Planalto, as it is giving in even more to the practice of give-and-take.

Lula inherited BRL 9.8 billion after the STF (Federal Supreme Court) extinguished the rapporteur’s amendments in December, the main bargaining chip in political negotiations for Jair Bolsonaro (PL). That amount went to the ministries’ cash, but the PT plan to use this turbocharged budget to expand its political base in Congress.

Party leaders from the so-called centrão say they support the Planalto Palace’s idea of ​​making these funds transparent, but are still waiting for the proposal to be presented by the government.

In the Bolsonaro government, there was strong resistance to the disclosure of such a list – which until today has not been fully made clear.

Allies of the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who has enormous influence in the distribution of amendments, affirm that they cannot resist Lula’s idea to divulge the names. They believe that this would be a way of softening criticism of the distribution of amendments, which, according to parliamentarians, have been criminalized in recent years.

The disclosure of the list would still serve for parliamentarians to propagate to the electorate the allocation of money to structural works in the respective municipalities.

During the Bolsonaro government, the publication of the fate of the rapporteur’s amendments was already made by deputies and senators on social networks and in actions to inaugurate works in the respective electoral bases, but there was no tool to unify this information.

There was a lack of transparency about the amount the government gave to each parliamentarian and how they used that money. Last year, Congress created the figure of the “external user” — who could be the mayor or public agent requesting the application of the budget — as a way to hide the names of deputies and senators.

Parliamentarians consider that Lula will have to make clear the criteria through which he will attribute to a certain congressman the sponsorship of the budget. The decision on how these funds will be distributed will be decided by the Minister of SRI (Secretary of Institutional Relations), Alexandre Padilha.

The leader of the PL, Altineu Côrtes (RJ), claims to be in favor of disclosing the name of the mayor who will benefit from the government’s Budget and also of the parliamentarians who sponsor the budget.

“Our concern is that the RP2 [orçamentos dos ministérios] was transparent. We are keeping an eye on it and will check it out. We want it to be absolutely transparent how they charged the RP9 to be [emenda de relator]”, says Altineu.

The deputy says that colleagues cannot be guided by amendments in Congress because that would be “a kind of purchase”.

“There has always been a lot of criticism about the use of public resources due to the votes. So we hope that the government looks at Brazil as a whole and not just the vote of deputies”, continues the leader of the PL, party of former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Senators from parties that are part of the government, such as the PSD, claim that they have not yet been approached to deal with the release of these funds that are under the tutelage of the ministries. They also say they see no problem with Planalto’s intention to make it clear who sponsored a given amount.

“I believe that transparency criteria will be important so that the government can meet its government programs in line with the policies it proposes. And the parliamentarian benefits [da divulgação]. What every congressman wants is to advertise the money he sends to the municipality”, says the leader of União Brasil in the Senate, Efraim Filho (PB).

Despite not opposing the system, members of the Senate also point out that there may be problems for the government when it comes to distributing the money. Today, each senator is entitled to R$ 60 million in tax amendments. The government’s negotiation to make more resources available to parliamentarians could unbalance the distribution, they say.

Timeline: from the rapporteur’s amendments under Bolsonaro to Lula’s budget reserved for Congress

From 2020 to 2022
Bolsonaro gave the go-ahead for Congress to have more power over budget spending. This occurred through the rapporteur’s amendments, which expanded parliamentary support for the former president

December 19, 2022
The STF decides that rapporteur amendments are unconstitutional. Congress used the budget rapporteur prerogative to inflate expenses and leave room for spending on works, acquisitions and projects of interest to parliamentarians more aligned with the government and the presidents of the Chamber and Senate. In addition, there was no transparency in disclosing the beneficiaries

December 20, 2022
Centrão and Lula reach an agreement to divide the R$ 19.4 billion that would go to the rapporteur’s amendments in 2023. Almost half (R$ 9.6 billion) went to individual amendments. ER$ 9.8 billion went to the budget of ministries

December 22, 2022
Congress approves the 2023 Budget and puts a brake on it so that Lula cannot reallocate the R$ 9.8 billion he inherited from the rapporteur’s amendments

February 2023
Lula’s government creates a specific code to differentiate the R$9.8 billion from other ministries’ funds. The rubric gives uniqueness to this money that cannot be exchanged without congressional approval.

March 2023
A government ordinance says that the ministries that received the R$ 9.8 billion must await guidance from Minister Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) on how the resources will be applied

April 2023
Nothing has been spent so far, as Planalto is working on a model to publish the sponsors of the contracts to be signed with that money

What are amendments?
Amendment is the way that deputies and senators manage to send money for works and projects in their electoral bases and, with that, increase political capital

What types of amendments?
Today there are three types: individual (which every deputy and senator is entitled to), bench (parliamentary from each state define priorities for the region) and commission (defined by members of congressional collegiate bodies)

Does the BRL 9.8 billion slice consist of amendments?
They are not classified as an amendment. This money is within the budget of ministries, but Lula and Congress intend to use it as a political bargaining chip.