Lula government accelerates release of amendments after defeat – 05/11/2023 – Power

The Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government accelerated the release of amendments by deputies and senators after a defeat in a vote in the National Congress and threats of new setbacks.

About R$ 1.15 billion of the individual quota of parliamentarians was pledged this week. For the remainder of the year, the committed amount had not yet reached R$ 200 million. The PT management still plans to start disbursing, in the coming weeks, resources related to the rapporteur’s old amendments, which total R$ 9.85 billion.

Government members claim that the schedule for implementing the amendments already established that the delivery of the funds would gain traction from May. The amount committed until Wednesday (10) represents about 6% of the R$ 21.2 billion foreseen for individual amendments in 2023.

The Planalto estimates that it should reserve a total of R$ 1.7 billion in amendments to the individual quota and state benches this month.

The Lula government has been criticized for problems in political articulation, including by Lira. The situation gained new proportions last week with the first relevant defeat in the National Congress, with the overthrow by federal deputies of the decree that changed some rules in the Sanitation Framework.

Parliamentarians demand greater agility from the government, especially to unlock the release of the resource that was incorporated into the Executive’s budget after the STF (Federal Supreme Court) declared the rapporteur’s amendments unconstitutional, at the end of last year.

The PT was the party that most benefited so far from the resources of individual amendments. About R$ 197 million of the quota of parliamentarians from the president’s party were pledged.

PSD parliamentarians had R$ 156.9 million forwarded. Next come União Brasil (R$147.8 million), MDB (R$144.7 million), PP (R$118.6 million), PL (103.2 million) and Republicans (R$97.4 million) , among other parties.

Each deputy indicated around BRL 32 million in individual amendments in the 2023 Budget. The senators’ quota is higher, BRL 59 million. The government is obligated to carry out all indications, but it manages to dictate the moment to forward the budget during the year.

The share of former rapporteur amendments is coveted by Congress precisely because it does not set a ceiling for each parliamentarian. They are paid in parallel with the taxable individual amendments.

Members of the government say that the presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-PL), and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), will each define the destination of R$ 1.9 billion of the amount inherited by the government .

The Lula administration still plans for each new deputy to nominate around R$13 million, as long as certain criteria are followed, such as prioritizing programs from the Ministries of Health and Cities. Half of this amount must be committed in the first semester.

Government members say that it is normal to start distributing the amendment values ​​from May onwards. This is because there are deadlines for submission and analysis of proposals.

In general, transfers of resources from the federal government to state and municipal health funds are released earlier.

Other endeavors tend to take longer, such as buying tractors or paving roads, which may require bidding and measuring, or agreements with city governments.

About R$ 1.12 billion of the amount forwarded so far is within the Ministry of Health’s budget, mainly to reinforce state and municipal funds.

A critic of the PT, Senator Mara Gabrilli (PSD-SP) had the highest volume of individual amendments ever pledged: R$ 28.2 million.

Lira’s nominations have not yet been committed, while Pacheco’s R$ 11 million amendments are underway.

The Bolsonaro government used to commit about half of the rapporteur’s amendments in the last days of December each year. This amount was intended mainly for the purchase of machinery and paving in the interior of the country.

The other half, in general, was released around the middle of the year, mainly for Health.

By making the commitment, the government undertakes to disburse that amount. Part of the funds from the amendments, however, are not paid off in the same year and become “remainders to be paid”, as in cases of public works that have a long execution schedule.

The Lula government paid BRL 4.2 billion in outstanding amounts for individual, bench, commission and extinct rapporteur amendments in 2023, according to Budget data.

On Wednesday, the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, recognized that the government did not act in releasing amendments and filling positions at the pace that was expected by deputies and senators.

“The ministries were involved in resuming programs, in rebuilding government actions, rebuilding teams, or in new ministries [estavam envolvidos em] set up the ministry. So, I would say that the amendments were not committed within the deadline and in the expectation that the parliamentarians had, but things are being oiled”, he said during an interview with GloboNews.

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

The PT administration, however, decided to keep in the hands of the centrão some of the bodies that had their budget boosted by the rapporteur’s amendment, such as Codevasf (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco e do Parnaíba).

The Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, used his social networks to defend the payment of amendments, arguing that it is legitimate for parliamentarians to make nominations. “It is necessary, it is democratic and it is important for public policies. Politics cannot be criminalized or bureaucratized”, wrote Padilha.

He stated that the pace of effort is following the provisions of the Budgetary Guidelines Law and that the government has already authorized the payment of R$ 4 billion in outstanding amounts, amendments that were contracted last year and that, in Padilha’s words, led to “default” by the Bolsonaro government.