Senate resumes face-to-face scheme, but releases remote – 03/01/2023 – Power

The Senate decided to resume the in-person voting scheme, but opened a loophole for virtual sessions. In practice, the leaders’ idea is to release senators’ remote participation at least one week a month and ensure that they can return to the states.

Due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, the House had implemented a hybrid system, in which parliamentarians could participate in the polls in person or remotely.

Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) had already signaled that, with the reduction in Covid cases, parliament should resume normal operations and end the possibility of remote participation.

In order not to displease colleagues, however, the board of directors decided that videoconferencing sessions can still be held with authorization from the president himself or from the plenary.

The norm also releases the remote system “in situations of war, social upheaval, public calamity, pandemic, epidemiological emergency, collapse of the transport system, situations of force majeure or duly justified urgency”.

The decision was taken after the election of the board of directors, at the beginning of the month, and communicated to the party leaders this Tuesday (28). The table is formed by the president of the Senate, by two vice-presidents and four secretaries.

Collegiate members say that the idea is to hold remote sessions only sporadically, in weeks when there is no agreement for voting, or on commemorative dates such as São João, when parliamentarians from the Northeast make a point of returning to the states to participate in the June festivities.

The table also argues that the middle ground found will ensure that the Senate will function again as it was before the coronavirus pandemic, with 100% face-to-face debates both in the plenary and in the committees.

Participation by videoconference is also valid in special sessions or thematic debates, without prior authorization from the President of the House or the plenary.

In the case of commissions, the meeting can be virtual if it is intended to hold public hearings or to question authorities, provided there is approval from the group president or the majority of the members.

“In the other plenary sessions and committee meetings, remote participation and speaking will not be allowed”, reads an excerpt from the act.

“Senators who participate remotely must behave in a manner compatible with the dignity and decorum inherent to the parliamentary mandate.”

Last month, the board of directors of the Senate increased the benefits given to senators, including those who took leave of office to become ministers.

The House readjusted the so-called parliamentary activity quota by 18.13%. The increase will be staggered in three tranches of around 6% between 2023 and 2025.

The value varies from state to state because it considers the price of air tickets from Brasilia to the capital where the parliamentarian was elected.

With the first increase of 6%, the amount goes from R$ 22,307.91 for Federal District senators to R$ 46,933.20 for those from Amazonas.

In addition, in another act, the president of the Senate also changed the section of the norm that provides for functional housing and included in the list of beneficiaries of the service the senators who are licensed to occupy the position of minister.

Before, the text said that whoever “becomes licensed to exercise the position of Minister of State or Secretary of State, of the Federal District or of the City Hall of a capital would lose the right to functional housing”. In the new wording, the section “Ministers of State” was cut.