The government’s budget proposal (New) foresees a reduction this year of one third in the staff of the agency responsible for regulating and supervising services in the state, Arsae (Sanitation and Energy Regulatory Agency).
The authority will be responsible, among other duties, for supervising Copasa’s service provision contracts, which should be privatized in the first half of this year after the .
When contacted, the Government of Minas stated that there is no forecast for a reduction in employees at the agency. The management said that the 2025 Budget considered the support staff, made up of interns and outsourced employees, and that the 2026 forecast no longer computed them using a “different calculation methodology”.
“The fact is that, currently, Arsae has 75 employees, including permanent and commissioned employees. And, for 2026, at the moment, this number remains unchanged”, said the government, in a note.
The forecast for a reduction in Arsae’s workforce is contained in the 2026 Annual Budget Law, which was presented by the government, processed in the Legislative Assembly and is awaiting sanction from Zema.
Of the 116 employees listed in the 2025 piece, the agency will have 75 this year. The agency’s budget forecast increased 8.72% in nominal terms compared to the previous year, to R$20,799,294.
Wallace Silva, president of Sindsema-MG, the union that represents Arsae employees, says he fears that the municipality’s employees will be reallocated to Artemig, a recently created agency responsible for regulating the transport sector in the state.
In the 2026 budget law, Artemig appears with a forecast of 38 employees. When the transport authority was created, the government said that it would not have additional costs, because it would involve the relocation of employees from other areas.
Silva also stated that the number of interns at Arsae is 28 people, a smaller number than the reduction of 41 employees that appears between the 2026 and 2025 budget pieces.
Arsae gained importance this year in light of the eventual privatization of Copasa and had its scope expanded following a law sanctioned by Zema at the end of last year.
In addition to sanitation services, the agency also began to monitor piped gas services.
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