Tarcísio tries to empower the body of Bolsonaro’s former CGU – 10/27/2023 – Power

The Tarcísio de Freitas (Republican) government entered into a tug of war with state prosecutors over the project to transfer administrative disciplinary procedures against civil servants to the CGE (State Comptroller General).

The body is headed by Wagner Rosário, who was the head of the CGU (General Comptroller of the Union) in the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), where he also worked with Tarcísio, former Minister of Infrastructure.

The change was included in a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) sent to Alesp (Legislative Assembly of São Paulo) that allows the transfer of funds from education to health.

The practice of including subjects unrelated to the original project is known as jabuti, a means used by governments as a shortcut to convey topics of interest to them, which is criticized by prosecutors and the opposition.

Prosecutors from the PGE (State Attorney General’s Office), a body whose main function is state advocacy, have mobilized to charge the deputies. Opponents, in turn, articulated an amendment vetoing the change.

The expectation is that the discussion will heat up in the coming weeks, when deputies actually begin to debate the project.

Currently, the Office of Disciplinary Procedures, linked to the PGE, carries out disciplinary procedures related to civil servants. This includes, for example, suspicions of corruption against servers.

With the change, the Prosecutor’s Office would maintain the competence only to carry out these processes in relation to its own employees.

While the Tarcísio administration maintains that it wants to bring the CGU federal model to São Paulo, PGE prosecutors fear for the independence of the investigations.

“The transfer of these responsibilities to the State Comptroller General is worrying, as the PPD has demonstrated excellence and impartiality over the years, with a minimum rate of judicial review”, says Fabrizio Pieroni, president of the Association of Attorneys of the State of São Paulo. Paulo, by note.

“The centralization of inspection, prosecution and trial functions in the Comptroller’s Office could compromise the impartiality of the process and even open up space for political persecution, which is serious for the conduct and fairness of the state’s defenses”, he adds.

Tarcísio has been trying to transform the Controllership into one of his showcases. This year, he launched the Anti-Corruption Radar program, coordinated by CGE, with a plan to prevent, detect and combat irregularities.

Wagner Rosário, head of the body, headed the CGU during the four years of the Bolsonaro government. He and the current governor were part of the wing of ministers with military training.

According to the Tarcísio administration, with the changes, the CGE “would begin to play the role of the system’s central body, carrying out the governance of sectoral internal affairs bodies that will be implemented and issuing standards that unify the procedures adopted at the state level”.

The government also mentions that bodies such as the police and the State Revenue already carry out their own disciplinary procedures, without any prejudice. Furthermore, the administration also exemplifies that other states such as Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais do not have rules that require prosecutors to carry out the procedures.

Regarding the practice of tortoise, the government justifies itself by stating that “the forwarding of a single PEC is merely operational, as it makes the analysis more efficient compared to the designation of a single rapporteur for the piece”.

Opposition deputies have articulated an amendment to block the change as they see the risk of politicization of investigations.

“He [o governo] takes control of the administrative process. Instead of being a state policy, it becomes a government policy on duty”, says deputy Reis, from the PT, the party that advocates the overthrow of the tortoise.

The PEC needs the approval of 57 of the 94 deputies. The main subject of the proposal, however, is the permission to reduce spending on education.

The idea is to cut revenue for the area in the state from 30% to 25%, which would mean reducing the budget by up to R$9.6 billion, next year for basic education schools. The project establishes that the 5% would be used in Health, which, according to the government, has increased its expenses year after year.

The management must demand the allied base to vote as a block on the project, which is one of Tarcísio’s priorities this year.

After a series of difficulties with the allied base in Alesp, the governor decided to release voluntary amendments to satisfy state deputies, just as his predecessors did.

So far, 78 of the 94 deputies have made requests to the government, totaling R$266.3 million. Only 4 members of the Assembly, however, from the Republicans and Podemos, have already had their demands fully paid – a sum of R$12.4 million (4.7% of the total). The rest are in the process of being released.