The state benches of deputies and senators allocated 20% of the R $ 14.2 billion of their own to carry out works by 2025. The distribution circumvents the determination of (Supreme Court) so that this money is and invested collectively, without fragmentation among parliamentarians.
Every R $ 5 of the bench amendments, which must be indicated together by parliamentarians of each state, R $ 4 will be spent on service cost or purchase of machinery and equipment. In these modalities, congressmen are able to divide the value among them to meet their electoral bases into municipalities.
The division of the money was identified in a study of the budget consultancy and financial inspection of the commissioned by Deputy Adriana Ventura (Novo-SP), at the request of Sheet.
“The data suggest distancing from the object of state bench amendments from the recommended model,” writing the authors of the study. “The analysis of legislation and data shows that there is still not enough clarity about the strategic and structuring character of state bench amendments. The definition in the legislation is vague, which makes it difficult to apply.”
The division of bench amendments among parliamentarians is popularly known in Congress as a “crack” of funds that should be collective. The sharing was once and by public accounts experts, because these resources should have the purpose of enabling structuring projects in each region.
The law passed by Congress itself in December, after collection of the Supreme Court for greater transparency of these resources, says that “bench amendments can only allocate resources to structural projects and actions […]the individualization of actions and projects to meet the demands or indications of each member “.
This modality, however, reduces the potential of individual political gains for congressmen. Days after approving the law, parliamentarians met and decided to direct most of the funds to actions that can be individualized. Of the R $ 14.2 billion, only 8% go to works with a determined object.
The rest was distributed to actions and programs that deputies and senators can, in the execution phase, direct to municipalities or associations controlled by allies.
Each state will have, this year, R $ 528 million of these amendments, which have mandatory execution. The values will still be ratified by Congress, which must approve the 2025 budget this week.
The total volume directed to works this year will be lower than the value used for the purchase of machinery and equipment, an investment that will have 22% of the funds, according to the consultancy of the Chamber. In addition, 58% will be destined for costing, especially direct transfers to municipalities.
The preference for costing, the technicians say in the document, may also occur due to the difficulty of federative entities to rapid flow to the resources received. While the funds for maintenance of public services are practically all passed on, the money for works ends up little used in the fiscal year for the delay in executing them.
The great works played by state governments also do not usually yield political dividends to congressmen, who prefer to distribute money to allies, who can help them reelect. Therefore, over the years, these amendments have lost their structuring character and were directed to local demands, the consultancy points out.
In the period 2021 to 2024, according to the study, there was a 303% growth in the volume of transfer to municipalities compared to 2017 to 2020. The funds for the states were stagnant.
“Normally, structuring projects and other strategic actions of high state or regional impact are executed by the State or the Union. The growth of transfers to the municipalities is an indication of the growing preference for local impact projects and actions, which is distanced from the initial objective of bench amendments,” the authors say.
The allocation of resources for costing or acquisition of equipment, the technicians say in the study, does not necessarily mean that actions cannot be structuring. This will depend on the coincidence between indications and “priorities and public policies”, as well as the need for each state.
To escape the larger strings, the Congress listed 20 areas as a priority in the Amendment Regulation Law and has encompassed virtually all public services as structuring actions.
For Mrs Adriana Ventura, the model creates inequality in the distribution of amendments. “Parliamentarians indicate millions without their names appear, while others are left with nothing. We are institutionalizing the crack and deceiving the population with a system that solves nothing,” he said.
The study also reveals a breach used to individualize resources and escape collective elaboration. The benches approve amendments to the states, but change the modality of application during the execution phase and divide the funds between allied municipalities.
“Thus, the effectiveness of prior control of schedules is reduced,” says the document. The artifice is still authorized by the 2025 Budgetary Guidelines Law.
In 2023, Congress initially approved R $ 4.7 billion in funds for the states, but cut the amount throughout the year. Less than half ($ 2.3 billion) was committed. The transfers to the municipalities were R $ 890 million in the approved budget and reached R $ 3.5 billion with the changes.
The attempt to individualize bench amendments, despite the vetoes of the law and the Supreme Court, can still cause new conflicts between congressmen and the government.
The chamber consultancy points out that the approved law leaves points open, as not “clear about the prohibition of contemplating multiple works within a state” and inserting “confusing conceptual categories”. These problems, suggest technicians, will need to be clarified by the government when running the amendments.
