The governor of São Paulo, (Republicans), more than doubled the distribution of voluntary amendments to parliamentarians in 2024, and began to include federal deputies and senators in the election year — in which the flow of resources to city halls is considered crucial in local disputes .
According to data from the Government Secretariat, controlled by () and responsible for meeting demands, the volume of voluntary amendments totaled R$2.14 billion this year. This resource is used to finance expenses, works and improvements, which is a way of favoring the electoral base of allies.
The secretariat denies that the increase is related to the election year or the privatization of Sabesp approved in the and states that the management prioritizes dialogue and institutional cooperation, maintaining an open channel with deputies.
By the first week of December, just over half (52%) of this amount had already been effectively committed or paid, and the remainder was still being processed, which is a reason for complaints in the Assembeia corridors.
In a note, the secretariat states that the deadline for payment of amendments varies, as in some cases it is required to have a work plan and construction schedule.
Last year, Tarcísio allocated only R$858 million (or R$891 million in corrected values) to voluntary amendments and only served state deputies, contradicting São Paulo senators.
In 2022, the last year of the government and, then affiliated with the PSDB, the value of voluntary amendments reached R$1.28 billion (R$1.39 billion in corrected values). Until then, the distribution of this amount, which started to occur under Kassab, was updated daily.
Payment for voluntary amendments is not mandatory and occurs at the convenience of Palácio dos Bandeirantes. Therefore, this mechanism, privileging deputies who vote in favor of the government.
The and are distributed equally among the 94 state deputies. In 2024, each deputy was entitled to almost R$11 million (more than R$1 billion in total).
In the case of state volunteers, Tarcísio served 89 deputies from 16 parties. Only the caucus, with five deputies, was left out of the list of beneficiaries.
The 18 members of the caucus, who are also in opposition, indicated voluntary amendments, although in a much smaller amount compared to government deputies.
Both last year and this year, Tarcísio offered closed amounts to deputies, who were able to distribute this amount to projects of their preference. In 2023, most allies indicated R$11 million each compared to R$5.5 million for left-wing deputies.
In 2024, the discrepancy was greater. Allies were entitled to R$20 million against R$5 million for PT members, for example. Deputies heard by Sheet attribute the increase to the most important vote for Tarcísio so far — the privatization of , , by 62 to 1, which ended up being rewarded this year.
Another relevant measure for the government, the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) which allows , was accompanied by the release of R$460 million in voluntary amendments, paid between the first and second round of voting, in November.
says that the party fights to increase the value of mandatory amendments, which are egalitarian. “[Com as emendas voluntárias] Deputies from the base end up having more capacity to help their candidates and mayors than those from the opposition”, he states.
“But we understand that there is no problem in receiving [emendas voluntárias] especially because we are not exchanging votes for amendments. Voluntary amendments should be for everyone, they are public and it is possible to monitor and control”, he adds.
In a note, the government says that the amendments are part of the relationship with Alesp “especially with the base deputies, who […] they support the programs and projects developed by the Executive and know in detail the demands of specific regions”.
“All nominations must follow the legislation and be aligned with the state’s portfolio of programs and projects”, he adds.
The flow of amendments also influences the . The parties that elected the most mayors in the state in 2024, such as PSD, PL and Republicans, also appear among the top five in the ranking of voluntary amendments.
Kassab, president of the PSD, the party that (205 out of 645), is the one who controls the distribution of amendments. As shown by Sheetthe power of the secretary and the complaint that he uses his position to favor his own party . Kassab states that the deputies’ service is republican and not partisan.
Afterwards, the 2025 Budget for his portfolio ended up dehydrated — the text was approved on December 17th with just over R$900 million for the secretariat instead of the R$2.2 billion proposed by the government.
Another novelty in 2024 was the fact that Tarcísio resumed a traditional practice and distributed voluntary amendments to the federal bench — 70 deputies and 3 senators. These congressmen are entitled to various types of amendments in the federal budget, but not in the state budget.
At the beginning of the year, however, Tarcísio reached an agreement with São Paulo parliamentarians, who as a state bench are entitled to a tax amendment totaling R$316.9 million. The group agreed to allocate this money to combat crime based on facial recognition, and to Hospital das Clínicas.
In return, Tarcísio offered R$10 million in voluntary amendments for each, totaling more than R$720 million. The agreement involved opposition parliamentarians, including PT members and the federal deputy (PSOL), whom the governor faced in the capital’s election as the main electoral campaigner for the re-elected mayor of São Paulo, ().
According to the government, the agreement is advantageous because the bench’s funds could speed up priority projects and because the indications for voluntary amendments must include actions that are already part of state projects and half must be allocated to health.
