The Federal Senate approved on Wednesday (25) a proposal that raises from 513 to 531 the number of federal deputies. The measure, approved by 41 favorable votes, now returns to the House of Representatives to analyze the changes made in the text by the rapporteur, Senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI). The deadline for sanction is June 30th.
The original proposal, approved by the House in May, provided for the increase of vacancies without clear restrictions on the financial impact, initially estimated at R $ 150 million annually.
In the Senate, however, an amendment was accepted that prohibits the creation of new expenses to fund parliamentary quotas, airline tickets and cabinet funds, limiting the budget impact to about R $ 10 million annually for the salaries of new deputies. Other expenses must be apportioned among the 531 parliamentarians.
The increase in vacancies in the House also implies changes in state legislative assemblies, which will have their benches adjusted proportionally.
Currently, Brazil has 1,059 state deputies, and the proposal provides for the creation of 30 new chairs, distributed mainly between Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Norte.
The update of representation meets a historical gap: since 1994, the number of federal deputies was not revised, even with population growth in several states.
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The measure complies a decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of 2023 which determined the update of the representation proportional to the population of the states. The Supreme Court set the deadline for Congress to regulate the issue by the end of June, at risk that the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) assumes the definition.
The approved proposal also establishes criteria for future revisions, considering census data and minimum and maximum limits of representatives per state.
The agreement that resulted in the proposal was led by the mayor, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), and provides that no state will lose chairs, will only win.
