Science is outside the spending ceiling, and entities celebrate – 06/21/2023 – Science

Scientific entities celebrated the fact that spending on science, technology and innovation is outside the limits of the spending ceiling proposed by the new fiscal framework, approved this Wednesday morning (21) at the Senate Economic Affairs Committee.

The theme is scheduled to go to the plenary this Wednesday and, if approved, returns to the Chamber of Deputies.

In the evaluation of Fábio Gomes, executive secretary of ICTP.Br (Initiative for Science and Technology in the Brazilian Parliament), it is “a great advance for Brazilian science”.

He claims that investing in science is essential because this is a strategic area for Brazil’s development. “We need to continue financing Brazilian science, which was the [segmento] that had the most cuts from the previous government”, he said about the management of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Gomes says he sees the decision as a reaffirmation by the Legislature in favor of scientific funding in Brazil. He cites, as an example, the recomposition of the amounts of the FNDCT (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development) — in July 2022, Congress rejected a mechanism that blocked R$ 2.5 billion from the fund.

The fiscal framework sets rules and mechanisms to control public accounts. With it, the government is expected to spend according to the limit of the revenue raised in the country.

Approved in the plenary of the House on May 23, the basic text of the project was voted on by highlights and then went to the Senate. Senator Renan Calheiros then proposed an amendment to withdraw investments in science from the limits of the framework.

This and other proposed amendments to the bill were analyzed by the rapporteur, Senator Omar Aziz, who accepted the suggestion to remove investments in science from the spending ceiling. “This area needs to be protected, as it includes actions necessary for the country’s economic and social development,” he said.

ICTP.Br had already published a position favorable to Aziz’s opinion, in a text signed by the organizations that make up the initiative, such as the ABC (Brazilian Academy of Sciences) and the SBPC (Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science).

According to these entities, the decision to withdraw spending on science and technology from the new framework demonstrates commitment to funding the area.

The Senate commission also confirmed the withdrawal of the FCDF (Constitutional Fund of the Federal District) and the Union’s supplement to Fundeb (Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education) from the spending ceiling.

“Fundeb supplementation is essential to guarantee the remuneration of teachers and other professionals in basic education throughout the country, the backbone of education in the country”, wrote the senator in the report.