Single daughters of the Chamber hit the salary cap and cost R$ 53 million

The 198 single daughter pensioners of the Chamber of Deputies cost R$ 53 million per year. The vast majority – 160 – are children of civil servants. Twenty-nine of them receive the constitutional ceiling – BRL 41,650.92 – the same salary as deputies and ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Among the 38 unmarried daughters of former deputies, 34 are over 60 years old. The oldest, Therezinha Lins de Albuquerque, is 97 years old.

Half of the unmarried daughters of Chamber servants earn more than R$20,000. The average value of pensions is R$ 23.4 thousand – equivalent to three INSS ceilings. The annual expense with the 160 civil servant pensioners reaches R$ 49 million. The average age is 58 years. Twelve of them are over 60 years old, reaching 84 years old in the case of Conceição de Castro. She has been receiving the benefit since June 1989.

The data were provided by the Chamber of Deputies, in response to a request made through the Law on Access to Information (LAI). (see list of major pensions below)

Accumulation of pension and retirement

The daughters of former deputies receive up to R$20,800 – half of the constitutional ceiling. Regina de Carvalho, 76 years old, receives BRL 14,000 as an unmarried daughter and another BRL 41,600 as a retired legislative analyst for the Chamber of Deputies. Her pension would reach R$ 48.8 thousand, but she suffers the maximum reduction of R$ 7.1 thousand. Including the single daughter’s pension, her gross income reaches R$ 56,000. Regina is the daughter of former deputy Aroldo Carvalho (Arena-SC), who served five terms in the Chamber.

Neuza Carneiro, 93 years old, has received a BRL 20,800 pension since 1972 – 50 years ago. She is the daughter of former deputy Pedro Carneiro (Arena-PA), who served 1 term as a federal deputy in the 70s, and a senator term in the 60s, as an alternate for Senator Cattete Pinheiro.

Helena Hirata, aged 77, also has an income of R$20,800. She is the daughter of Sussumo Hirata (Arena-SP), who was a federal deputy for three terms in the 1960s and 70s. A lawyer, he became known for representing the Japanese-Brazilian community in politics. Ângela Ferraz, 75 years old, is the daughter of Paulo Ferraz (Arena-PI), who was a federal deputy for four terms. She has a pension of R$ 20.8 thousand.

Usineiro and owner of TV

Regina Carneiro da Cunha, 82, has a pension of R$ 20,800 since 1982, left by former deputy Rubens Bernardo (MDB-GB). He served four terms as federal deputy and was vice-governor of Guanabara from 1967 to 1970. In the Northeast, he was an industrialist and owner of a sugar and alcohol plant. In Rio de Janeiro, he founded Rádio Continental and TV Continental.

Sylvia da Gama, 71 years old, daughter of former deputy Gonzaga da Gama (MDB-GB), has received a pension since 1971, 52 years ago. The current value is R$ 20.8 thousand. Luciana Rego, 59 years old, daughter of former deputy Rogério Rego (PDS-BA), has a pension of R$ 20,800.

Some pensions are divided between two or three unmarried daughters. Former deputy Sérgio Maroja (Arena-PA), who served two terms in the Chamber, in the 60s and 70s, and later was mayor of Belém, left a pension of R$ 20,800 to his daughters Celina, 70 years old, and Elvira Maroja, 62 years old. Each one receives R$ 10.4 thousand.

João Batista Alves de Macêdo (Arena-BA), served three terms as federal deputy in the 1960s and left a pension of R$15,600 to three unmarried daughters: Carmen Nilza, 69 years old; Ana Maria, 67 years old; and Déborah, 53 years old. Each one receives a pension of R$ 5.2 thousand.

Benefit provided by law

The benefit paid to pensioners, in the condition of “unmarried eldest daughter”, is provided for in Law 3,373/1958. Your art. 5, item II and sole paragraph, says that “the unmarried daughter, over 21 years old, will only lose the temporary pension when occupying a permanent public office”. Since 1990, pensions are no longer granted to unmarried daughters of civil servants.

The accumulation of the pension with other incomes in amounts above the constitutional ceiling is possible because the IPC was considered by the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU) as an entity governed by private law. With the extinction of the institute in 1999, the pensions already granted and to be granted were assumed by the Union – that is, by the taxpayer.

The pension for the daughters of deputies is granted by the rules of the Institute of Social Security for Congressmen (IPC), which also provided for the benefit for “single, unmarried or widowed daughters who live under the economic dependence of the taxpayer”.

In March of this year, deputy Helder Salomão presented a bill (PL 1448) to restrict the benefit to single adult daughters. According to its project, they would lose their status as beneficiaries if they got married or formed a stable union or when they turned 45 years old. Two months later, the project was returned. The Board of Directors of the Chamber considered that the proposal goes against the Federal Constitution because it would be among the private initiatives of the President of the Republic. The deputy says he will appeal the decision: “It may be legal, but it is immoral. We have to put an end to it!”

The biggest pensions