Deputy Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE) will be the rapporteur of the Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) which grants a series of social benefits, such as the increase in Auxílio Brasil from R$ 400 to R$ 600 per month, on the eve of the elections. Called by technicians the “package of despair”, the proposal was approved with broad support in the Senate and should now have its processing accelerated in the Chamber.
“I accepted with great tranquility the mission of reporting the PEC of Benefits, and giving encouragement to the population at this delicate moment. Hunger is in a hurry”, said the parliamentarian, in a note. Strong is already the rapporteur of the PEC on biofuels, which maintains the competitiveness of ethanol against gasoline, and was the author of the bill that determined a ceiling of 17% for ICMS on fuels, electricity, telecommunications and public transport.
As the processing of the biofuels PEC is already advanced in the Chamber, the deputies decided to join the benefits PEC to it. The articulation was anticipated to the Estadão/Broadcast by the president of the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) of the House, Arthur Maia (União Brasil-BA), last Friday, the 1st.
Maia’s forecast is that the benefits PEC will pass the CCJ next Tuesday, 5th, if the opposition does not ask for views to postpone the vote. After that, it should be attached to the biofuels PEC, which should be voted on in a special commission next Wednesday, 6th. With that, the text uniting the two proposals could go straight to the plenary next week. This is the fastest timeline for processing.
The PEC that expands social benefits passed, last Thursday, 30, in the Senate with broad support. In the first vote, there were 72 votes in favor and 1 against. In the second round, the score was 67 to 1. The only senator to vote against was José Serra (PSDB-SP). In his view, the measures hurt the country’s fiscal credibility. The cost of the proposal was BRL 41.25 billion outside the spending ceiling – the rule that limits government spending growth to the previous year’s inflation.
According to the Chamber’s Internal Regulations, a PEC must be analyzed by a special committee in at least ten sessions. However, Maia recalled that the PEC for Precatórios, approved by Congress at the end of last year and which opened up a fiscal space of more than R$100 billion in this year’s Budget, had its process accelerated and went straight to the plenary after Lira decided to unite the proposal with another that had already passed in special commission.
The benefits PEC provides for zeroing the Auxílio Brasil waiting list; increase the value of the social program that replaced the Bolsa Família from R$400 to R$600; granting a “trucks grant” of R$ 1,000 per month; double the gas voucher for low-income families to subsidize a cylinder every two months; provide subsidies to guarantee free access to elderly passengers in urban and metropolitan public transport; grant a monthly gasoline allowance of R$ 200 to taxi drivers; expand resources for the Alimenta Brasil program, and compensate states that reduce ICMS rates on ethanol to maintain the competitiveness of biofuel in relation to gasoline.
All benefits are valid only until the end of the year. To shield President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) from possible punishments under the Electoral Law, a national state of emergency was included in the PEC, criticized by the opposition, which, despite this, voted in favor of the proposal. The legislation prevents, under normal circumstances, the creation of social programs in an election year, except in the case of a state of emergency or calamity.
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