President of the Chamber called a vote for 10 am after a type of “preliminary vote” signaled a lack of support for the text
The president of the Chamber of Deputies, (PP-AL), postponed until Thursday (Dec 19, 2024) the vote on the 1st Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution () on the spending review package sent by the president’s government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The analysis is scheduled for 10 am.
Lira added the government text to an existing proposal from 2007 to have a faster process. The House’s rules establish that there will be a vote to analyze the 2024 text instead of the original. The technical name is “preference highlighting”.
It needs a simple majority to pass – which was obtained. They were 294 a favor of prominence and 178 contra. However, a PEC needs at least 308 votes for approval in 2 rounds. Without reaching that number in preference, it was assumed that the main text would not have enough support tonight.
So, Lira made a move and postponed the assessment for the next day. You have more time to negotiate.
The president of the Chamber had already said that he expected the lack of votes to approve the proposal. It had been signaled that the “problem” it was the content of the texts.
“The problem is not money, amendments or ordinances. Congress has powers and responsibilities. The projects arrived a few days ago. We asked for and placed sessions in the Chamber from Monday to Friday during these two weeks, already giving a clear signal that we would dedicate ourselves to these themes and other important topics”the congressman on December 10.
Along with the PEC, the bill on the rules of the (Continuous Payment Benefit) and the new minimum wage limit is expected to be voted on.
SUPERSALARIES
The rapporteur, (União Brasil-CE), changed the wording by establishing that income should be defined by ordinary law, and not by complementary law – which requires an absolute majority (257). This opens up room to pay benefits within the ceiling limit. The changes proposed by the government, however, remain the same.
Understand below what the government wants:
- how it is – employees can use “hangings” as a way to get around the public sector salary cap (R$44,008.52 monthly);
- how is it – these expenses now fall within this limit.
There will be a series of categories under an exception regime. In other words, some public sector benefits will still remain outside the constitutional ceiling. A change in the text is that this list is now defined by ordinary law. Previously, it was by complementary law.
The measure is part of the fiscal package. The measures in total are expected to save R$71.9 billion in 2 years.
The limit of R$44,008.52 for the public sector is the salary of ministers of the (Federal Supreme Court). Magistrates have the highest remuneration among civil servants.
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BASIC EDUCATION FUND
The rapporteur also for Fundeb (Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and Valorization of Education Professionals) for full-time education.
Understand what has changed:
- as the government wanted – that until 20% of the Union’s transfers to the fund were directed to full education;
- how was the proposal – the destination is limited until 10% in 2025. The following years will be no minimum 4% of resources allocated to practice.
Currently there is only distribution criteria for the money that goes to teachers’ salaries. “The other part is free and ends up being applied to topics that sometimes do not reach the student. This is a guarantee that gives preference to a policy that is a priority”said the Ministry of Finance when initially explaining the measure.
The expectation of change in the basic education fund presents the following logic for the economy in public accounts:
- increase Fundeb investments in comprehensive education;
- spends less on initiatives to strengthen this category;
- with less spending by the agency, the money can be redirected to other social policies.
The reduction in transfers, however, should harm this strategy. Sectors criticized the government’s idea. They said that education lost money with the transfer.
The Ministry of Finance says that, logically, the money “left over” I could go to the Pé de Meia program. In other words, expenses would be reallocated. There would not necessarily be any money saved.
“As there will be no need to provide resources from the Ministry of Education for full-time schools, it opens up fiscal space in the MEC budget that can be applied in the future to other themes, such as Pé de Meia, but today it is an opening of space in the federal budget”said the Treasury.
O Poder360 that the States with more transfers received by Fundeb had worse schooling rates (portion of people attending school). Data like this justifies the change in the fund, according to the government.
SALARY PAYMENT
The government wants to progressively change the criteria for receiving the benefit. Currently, anyone earning up to 2 minimum wages is entitled to the salary bonus. The plan is to reduce this proportion to 1 and a half salaries by 2035.
The progression is as follows:
- 2025 – 2 minimum wages;
- 2026 – 1.95 minimum wage;
- 2027 – 1.90 minimum wage;
- 2028 – 1.85 minimum wage;
- 2029 – 1.80 minimum wage;
- 2030 – 1.75 minimum wage;
- 2031 – 1.70 minimum wage;
- 2032 – 1.65 minimum wage;
- 2033 – 1.60 minimum wage;
- 2034 – 1.55 minimum wage;
- 2035 – 1.5 minimum wage.
The benefit payment would decrease year by year. Theoretically, fewer people would be entitled to receive payments as they progress. The Treasury projects an economy of R$ 18.1 billion in 6 years.
DRU
The DRU (Decoupling of Union Revenues) is a mechanism that allows the federal government to freely use 30% of all federal taxes linked by law to funds or expenses.
The resources come from social contributions, especially. The proposal approved in the 1st round determines that the DRU will be extended until 2032. The expected savings are R$7.4 billion in 2 years and R$25.6 billion from 2025 to 2026.
