Senate must release R$15 billion to Lula before evaluating veto – 04/16/2024 – Power

The session of the National Congress to analyze some vetoes by President Lula (PT), scheduled to take place this week, was postponed, according to the government leader in Congress, senator Randolfe Rodrigues (no party-AP).

In the 2024 Budget, the president had vetoed R$5.6 billion for amendments to parliamentarians — which provoked negative reactions in Congress and mobilization to overturn the veto.

Randolfe told Sheet that the decision was taken so that the Senate could consider the approved change in the fiscal framework that releases another R$15 billion to President Lula (PT) immediately and which was approved by deputies last week. He met with the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), on Monday night (15).

According to him, the session on vetoes will take place next Thursday (25th) and no longer on the 18th.

“We can only hold a session of Congress to consider vetoes that result in increased expenses if we have an appreciation of the amendment to article 14 of the framework”, says Randolfe, referring to the veto of R$ 5.6 billion to amendments to committee of parliamentarians on the Budget.

If this approval did not occur before the veto was analyzed, the government would run the risk of having to make cuts to the budget of the ministries, say parliamentarians. This is because today there is no space to transfer the money to congressmen.

“We are only opening this so that Congress’ positions in relation to what Congress approved regarding the exemption of the 17 sectors, municipal pensions, Perse and the likely overturn of the veto of commission amendments” can be included in the Budget”, Randolfe added. .

The project with the device that authorizes the resource and anticipates the expansion of the 2024 spending limit was approved by the Chamber last week. Now, it needs to be analyzed by the Senate’s CAE (Economic Affairs Committee) and then be deliberated by senators in plenary.

The prospect is that the veto on the rapporteur’s amendments will be at least partially overturned, imposing an instant expense on the Union.

The fear of government officials is that there will not be time to approve the project that releases the R$15 billion by Thursday. For this reason, the search for postponing the session.

Parliamentarians believe it is possible that Pacheco will bring forward this vote, thus releasing the veto analysis this week.

The government built an agreement with deputies and senators around the issue. The idea is for congressmen to override part of Lula’s veto and guarantee R$3.6 billion of the total R$5.6 billion.

The deal was led by Minister Rui Costa (Casa Civil) directly with the President of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), under the fear that Congress would overturn the veto in its entirety and impose a more costly defeat on the Palácio do Planalto.

The article in question changes the law of the new tax framework and was inserted at the last minute in a complementary bill that recreates the DPVAT, insurance that compensates victims of traffic accidents.

The fear in the government and the threat from some parliamentarians is that the veto will be overturned in its entirety. Some House leaders consider the possibility of this happening to be remote.

Still, if this possibility prospers, the perspective is that the Senate will maintain its commitment to the government.

The Congress session takes place while a climate of tension prevails between the Chamber and Minister Alexandre Padilha (Secretariat of Institutional Relations).

Last week, Lira stated that the minister is “incompetent” and his “personal dislike”.

Still, parliamentarians do not expect the President of the Chamber to retaliate against the government regarding this veto specifically.

Planalto, however, still fears that the deputy will prepare a strong response.

After Lira’s criticism, Lula came to his ally’s defense. “But just because of his stubbornness, Padilha will stay in this ministry for a long time, because there is no one better to deal with the National Congress than Padilha”, stated the president.

On the other hand, members of the Chamber defend that the planned session should take place so that other presidential vetoes that still need to be debated can be analyzed.

Among them, the petista’s vetoes to the project to make the use of pesticides more flexible in the country, nicknamed by environmentalists the “Poison PL” (and whose analysis is defended by the ruralist bench), and the vetoes to the project that regulates fixed rate bets , such as so-called bets.