The Budget of the Junta de Andalucía for 2022 already has some numbers. It will be around 43,800 million euros (8% more than those now in force), they will be “expansive” and will reinforce health, education and social policies so, according to the Andalusian president, Juan Manuel Moreno (PP), ” from the point of view of the left, they will have no excuse not to support it ”. The coalition government of PP and Citizens took out the last three budgets thanks to the support of Vox, but now, in the last section of the legislature, it has accepted the offer of the PSOE to reach a pact that, if signed, would be unprecedented.
Moreno and the general secretary of the Andalusian PSOE, Juan Espadas, agreed 15 days ago to open negotiations to approve the Board’s Budget for 2022. Both generated expectations of agreement and considered it “possible” to reach a common point. Nothing else has been advanced, except for a cross between statements and political opinions of all the Andalusian Parliament groups about an operation that has never been explored in Andalusia.
The Andalusian president took advantage of the control session on Thursday to announce the number of the bill in response to the Socialist spokesperson, Ángeles Férriz. “The Budget for 2022 will be expansive, health and education policies will be strengthened and will amount to 43.8 billion, health spending will increase by more than one billion and non-financial spending will grow by 9%,” he said.
From the socialist bench and also from United We can, he has been urged to reveal whether he will maintain the employment of the 20,000 health workers hired to strengthen the public health system due to the pandemic. “I already told you that the 20,000 reinforcement health workers are not going to go to the streets,” Moreno told the PSOE spokesperson. The Andalusian president has told outside the plenary hall that it will not be possible to maintain as a structural expense of chapter 1 of the budget (personnel expense) all the reinforcement personnel, because there will no longer be the covid fund enabled by the central government on last year. According to their data, the Valencian Community has reduced it by 50% and Madrid by 50%.
Moreno has announced that the Government will register the budget bill in Parliament on November 3, “whether or not there is an agreement” with the parliamentary groups. “If they want to demolish it, that they demolish it”, has commented. Next Tuesday a Socialist delegation will hold a meeting with the Minister of Finance, Juan Bravo. It will be the first meeting with documents held by PP and PSOE. In Moreno’s opinion, the PSOE “will have no excuse for not supporting him.”
For the Socialists, abstention is enough to prevent the amendments to the totality that will presumably be proposed by United Podemos for Andalusia and Vox from prospering. This group has insistently stated that this time they will not stamp their signature, since they want Moreno to call regional elections.