The vote took place this Thursday (21), in a joint session of senators and deputies, in Brasília;
The National Congress overturned the veto of the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), on a provision in the 2026 Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) that establishes that municipalities with up to 65 thousand inhabitants no longer depend on tax compliance to enter into voluntary transfers. The vote took place this Thursday, 21st, in a joint session of senators and deputies, in Brasília.
The LDO excerpt says that “the issuance of a commitment note, the carrying out of resource transfers and the signing of instruments, as well as the donation of goods, materials and inputs, will not depend on the payment status of the municipality of up to sixty-five thousand inhabitants”. When vetoing the rule, the government claimed that there is an “unconstitutionality” and that the obligation to comply is provided for in the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF).
During this week, Alcolumbre defended the overturn of the veto when speaking at the March to Brasília in Defense of Municipalities, the “March of Mayors”, held in Brasília.
“I made a map. Today, there are more than 5,045 municipalities that have less than 65 thousand inhabitants. Of these, more than 3,100 are currently in default, therefore, unable to access resource agreements presented by the federal government, government programs and also resources from transfers of parliamentary amendments”, said Alcolumbre.
At the time, the president of Congress had called the minister of the Federal Government’s Institutional Relations Secretariat, José Guimarães.
“I would like, Guimarães, with the understanding of the government, and I know that we want, and alongside President Hugo Motta, to announce here at the March of Mayors, that we are going today, President Hugo and I, the congressional leaders, the government leaders, to quickly organize a session of the National Congress so that we can analyze these vetoes, overturn these restrictions and give more than three thousand municipalities the possibility of accessing more resources from the Brazilian State.”
Highways and waterways
The vetoes that dealt with the transfer of Budget funds to state and municipal highways and waterways were also overturned.
This authorizes the use of federal resources for works and maintenance of state and municipal highways aimed at production flow and logistical integration. The veto occurred under the argument that the measure would expand exceptions for expenses outside the Union’s direct competence, potentially weakening budget planning and execution criteria.
The application of federal resources to the waterway network was also made more flexible, including in cases that would go beyond the Union’s competences.
