Marcelo Castro says that measure could enter the same PEC that would guarantee Brazil Aid of R$ 600 in 2023
The Rapporteur-General for the 2023 Budget, Senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), said this Monday (19.Sep.2022) that the money to make it possible to set the minimum wage for nursing could be outside the spending ceiling.
The idea is that the budget for the floor will be included in the same PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that would exempt from the public expenditure control mechanism the extra R$ 200 from Auxílio Brasil to guarantee the benefit of R$ 600 in 2023.
In a video distributed to journalists, the budget rapporteur said that both the former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (EN) as the president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) declared that, if elected, they will maintain the Auxílio Brasil of R$ 600.
According to the emedebista senator, the cost of guaranteeing the additional R$ 200 installment is around R$ 50 billion per year.
“There is no other way than to exceptionalize the spending cap. For this, we need to present a PEC. Since we are going to make a PEC for [o Auxílio Brasil], we would also take into account these resources for nursing”, said Castro.
As deputy leader of the MDB in the Senate, he participated earlier in the meeting of the President of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), with party leaders to discuss proposals to enable the minimum salary for nurses, nursing technicians, nursing assistants and midwives.
Castro and Pacheco will hold a new meeting on Tuesday (September 20) to talk specifically about the possibility of a PEC to take the money from the Auxílio Brasil of R$ 600 and the nursing floor from the spending ceiling.
In an interview with Power 360 on August 19, the budget rapporteur had stated that it would be necessary to negotiate the ceiling space for Auxílio Brasil, the salary readjustment of civil servants and the rules for amendments by congressmen with the winner of the presidential election.
The preliminary decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to suspend the validity of the nursing floor law anticipated the discussion about the lack of space in the spending ceiling for all the measures that the government and Congress want to adopt in 2023.
At the Senate leaders’ meeting this Monday, Pacheco suggested 4 projects to try to fund the nursing floor. During the meeting, congressmen added ideas on how to use part of the rapporteur’s amendments (RP9) as a source of funds.
Here is a summary of the proposed projects so far:
- Equity regularization (PL 458 2021) – special regime to update equity values by paying a special rate and without fines. It is in the Chamber;
- Help for Santa Casa (PL 1,417 2021) – allocates BRL 3.3 billion from the Federal Government to Santa Casa and philanthropic hospitals. It is in the Chamber;
- repatriation of resources (PL 798 2021) – reopens the period for 120 days to join the special program to declare resources abroad not previously declared. It’s in the Senate;
- idle resources (PLP 44 2022) – allows money stopped in state and municipal health funds to be reallocated. It’s in the Senate.
According to the House Minority Leader, Jean Paul Prates (EN), the annual cost of the floor would range from R$16 to R$18 billion per year. It already has private hospitals, whose only idea of compensation so far is the exemption of their payroll. This idea still depends on a debate with the Ministry of Economy.
The rapporteur’s amendments, which are distributed according to the rapporteur’s will to other congressmen and which have been used as a bargaining chip by the government to gain greater congressional support, can also be used to fund the nursing floor.
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