Framework: Lula government plans another BRL 1 billion in amendments – 05/17/2023 – Market

The Planalto Palace plans to release another batch of parliamentary amendments, which could reach R$ 1 billion, amid discussions on the project of the new fiscal framework in the National Congress.

The package brings together individual amendments –those to which all deputies and senators are entitled– provided for in this year’s Budget. The money, for works and projects sponsored by parliamentarians, must be authorized in the next two weeks.

The government has been asked to unlock the budget for amendments in the face of political mishaps in Congress, such as the broad vote in the Chamber to overthrow decrees that change rules in the Sanitation Framework.

The government’s strategy is to prioritize political allies and congressmen who should support projects of interest to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), including the proposed new fiscal framework, whose urgency was approved this Wednesday (17).

This year, until mid-May, around BRL 1.4 billion in individual amendments had been released – well below the BRL 3.5 billion authorized from January to April last year.

On another front, Planalto’s political articulation works on mapping the deputies and senators who still have amendments from the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration to be settled.

The Institutional Relations Secretariat, responsible for negotiations with Congress, asked the ministries to present a survey of the sponsors of the amendments still in execution.

The government has the help of leaders of the House and Senate to have the list of parliamentarians contemplated by the extinct rapporteur amendments (used during the Bolsonaro government). In order to expand the support base in Congress, the Planalto Palace wants to take advantage of the final stages of implementing the amendments inherited from the Bolsonaro administration.

This is possible because, even after release, an amendment can take from one to two years to be fully settled.

Recent data show that the resources related to the rapporteur’s old amendments – the main bargaining chip in the Bolsonaro government – ​​total around R$ 10 billion. But, according to Planalto members, this number is even higher if added to other types of amendments, and could be between R$ 12 billion and R$ 15 billion.

However, due to the lack of transparency, the government does not yet have a list of which parliamentarians still have pending rapporteur amendments. With this information, the political articulation can act to accelerate requests from allies.

In addition, it will be possible to find out which centrão deputies and senators are also interested in the budget. This is a way of trying to attract members of parties like the PP and Republicans and even some of the PL to come back with proposals favorable to the government.

Lula’s assistants have not yet decided whether the government will disclose the names and projects sponsored by parliamentarians with old amendments to be paid. For now, the idea is not to keep this information confidential.

During the election campaign, Lula even called the rapporteur’s amendments the “biggest corruption scheme today”, “secret budget” and “bolsolão”.

Regarding the new block of amendments to be released by the end of May and beginning of June, there is no discussion about transparency. As they are individual amendments, the list is updated on Congressional and Executive portals.

These amendments to be authorized should benefit deputies and also senators, who should analyze the fiscal framework starting in June.

Last week, about R$ 1.15 billion of the individual quota of parliamentarians were pledged. In the remainder of the year, the value had not yet reached R$ 200 million.

Even so, the pace has lagged behind previous years. Last week, the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, recognized that the government did not act in releasing amendments and filling positions within the period expected by deputies and senators.

The list shows which senators were the most contemplated in the releases. According to members of the government, this will be common, because this year, the value of the senator’s individual amendment is almost double the share of a deputy.

The 2023 Budget foresees an amount of BRL 21.2 billion for individual amendments. They are distributed in the same amount to all deputies (R$ 32 million each) and senators (R$ 59 million).

These amendments are mandatory – until the end of the year. Therefore, the government manages, at best, to postpone the release of resources from political opponents while trying to accelerate those of allies.

Therefore, Lula’s political articulators also hope to use the R$ 9.8 billion that are in the ministries’ cash and were inherited after the STF (Federal Supreme Court) declared the use of rapporteur’s amendments unconstitutional.

However, the government is still designing the rules for using these resources.

Minister Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) published, in early May, an ordinance with guidelines for this amount.