Minister Flávio Dino, of the Federal Supreme Court, authorized this Wednesday, 31st, the Lula government to commit R$ 370 million to commission amendments sponsored by senators and deputies – assets from the secret budget – to guarantee the minimum expenditure on health foreseen in the Constitution. The decision responds to a request from the Attorney General’s Office and takes place on the last day of the 2024 budget execution.
The minister saw ‘serious collision between constitutional rights and obligations’. “On the one hand, the imperative adaptation of parliamentary amendments to the due budgetary process, constitutionally based; on the other, the reach of the constitutional minimum for Health expenses, with the Executive Branch claiming that only with a certain amount of “commission amendments” this becomes possible”, he explained.
The final assessment was that it is appropriate and necessary to continue executing ‘commission amendments’, “with the sole purpose of enabling the achievement of the constitutional minimum level of expenditure on Health”.
However, Dino determined that the parliamentary amendments that will be committed must be ratified in the thematic Committees on Health of the Senate and the Chamber by March 31st, under penalty of immediate and automatic annulment. Only after confirmation can they be executed – that is, paid.
“Until such approval, there will be no subsequent act of execution, which is expressly blocked from March 31, 2025, if the conditions listed are not met”, he warned.
Also according to the order, the amendments released for commitment must meet, if possible, the usual proportion of sharing between the Chamber and Senate. The president of Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco, must adjust the amendments with the Ministry of Health.
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The decision was signed after the AGU sent Dino an opinion arguing that amounts that were blocked by order of the minister, in the context of the action that overthrew the secret budget, were essential to guarantee the minimum expenditure on health provided for in the Constitution.
The law establishes that the government has to spend at least 15% of the year’s net revenue. In 2024, it is expected to reach R$1,436 billion. Thus, the health floor for this year is R$215.5 billion.
Dino determined this Tuesday, 30th, that the AGU calculate what value in amendments would be essential to comply with the constitutional health minimum. The legal arm of the Lula government responded to the question this Wednesday, 31st, the last day of the year: R$370 million, at least.
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The body says that the government is committed to canceling the commission amendments if, eventually, it is found that the constitutional floor was reached without the need for commission amendments.
The debate between the STF minister and the AGU took place urgently due to the turn of the year. This Wednesday, the 31st, the deadline for committing resources from the 2024 Budget ends and the money that is not reserved for payment will return to the Treasury.
The specific request from the Federal Attorney General’s Office for R$370 million for Health came after the body suggested caution to the Lula government and the non-payment – at least per hour – of R$4.2 billion in parliamentary amendments sponsored by party leaders . The Executive’s legal arm defended that the government adopted a “safer interpretation” of Dino’s decision that released, on Sunday, the 29th, part of the committee amendments that had been blocked since the 23rd.
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After issuing the AGU’s opinion, the Institutional Relations Secretariat reported that, by December 23rd – the date stipulated by Dino – R$ 1.7 billion had been committed to commission amendments, within the universe of projects that totaled R$4.2 billion. According to SRI, these resources are distributed among six Ministries: Tourism, with R$441 million committed; Cities, with R$335.1 million; Health, with R$330.2 million; Sports, with R$307.9 million; Integration, with R$278.2 million and Agriculture, with R$83.2 million.
The value reported is the commitment of part of the 5,449 amendments mentioned in the letter signed by 17 party leaders – which was overturned by minister Flávio Dino. According to the order signed by Dino this Sunday, the 29th, the leaders’ office presents an “insurmountable nullity”, with “false determining reasons. The minister highlighted that the Executive Branch is “definitely prohibited from committing what is contained therein”.
In the order signed this Wednesday, 31st, Dino was categorical when making the clarification requested by AGU. He pointed out that the letters from both the Chamber and the Senate, which had indicated committee amendments sponsored by parliamentarians, are null and void.
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“The aforementioned letters are null and void, which, obviously, results in the impossibility of them producing legal effects. Therefore, any “committee amendment” commitment indicated in them is, in principle, null and void, regardless of the date on which the commitment occurred. In summary: commitments for “commission amendments” listed in letters made before December 23, 2024 – null; commitments of “commission amendments” listed in the letters made after December 23, 2024 – null”, he stressed.
