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On Wednesday (08/12), the Transition Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) was approved in two rounds in the Senate, this bill will now be sent to the Deputies Chamber for analysis. For this to be possible, deputies try to negotiate with the President of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), a way to speed up the evaluation process.
Before the 2023 Budget
The elected government wants the constitutional amendment to be enacted by Congress before the vote on the 2023 Budget, which should take place in the last joint session of deputies and senators this year. The PEC can strongly affect the budget and open space for improving funding in some sectors that have not gotten many resources.
The Transition PEC
Lula’s team intends to use the open space in the spending ceiling to maintain the payment of the Auxílio Brasil – which will once again be called Bolsa Família – at R$600 next year.
A Test of Political Support
To be approved, a PEC needs the support of at least 308 deputies in two rounds of voting. Even though the deputies and senators will change in 2023, the vote is the first test of popularity of the next government, which has already faced problems to conciliate in its transition commission all the groups and individuals that helped Lula gather support to be elected.
Negotiations
One of the main topics in negotiation for the Congress to support Lula seems to be the so called “secret budget”. Top congressmen warned Lula’s team that a possible ban on the “secret budget” by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) implodes the Transition PEC.
The secret budget is the name given to the set of federal government funds sent by parliamentarians to their electoral areas through a type of amendment that is less transparent than the others.
On Wednesday (07/12), the STF started to analyze a set of actions that may restrict the use of the mechanism, which was used by the government of President Jair Bolsonaro to gain support in Congress.
According to media sources, leaders of the Chamber met with Deputies Chamber President Arthur Lira and said that they want the transition team to interfere in the STF to ensure that any adjustment to the secret budget is made by Congress, and not by the magistrates.
