Jucá is still acting as the hidden Minister of Planning.
Although he was ousted from the Ministry of Planning, Senator Romero Jucá (PMDB-RR) still acts as the informal minister of the portfolio; he was the one who orchestrated the expansion of the Union Revenue Detachment, approved this morning.
247 - Although he was ousted from the Ministry of Planning, Senator Romero Jucá (PMDB-RR) still acts as the informal minister of the department; he was the one who orchestrated the expansion of the Union Revenue Detachment, approved this morning.
Read below, note from Natuza Nery Regarding:
The Hidden Minister: Even though he left the Ministry of Planning ten days ago, Senator Romero Jucá continues to act as a member of the government's top echelon. He frequents Michel Temer's office and meets with his main ministers. On Tuesday, he met with Henrique Meirelles (Finance) to discuss the public spending cap and the expansion of the DRU (Disconnection of Union Revenues). He was also the one who suggested having Aloysio Nunes, a member of the PSDB party, as the government's leader in the Senate.
Read also the report from Agência Brasil about the DRU:
Chamber approves in first round PEC that extends DRU until 2023
The plenary of the Chamber of Deputies approved in the first round, in the early hours of today (2), the proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) that extends the Union Revenue Disconnection (DRU) until December 31, 2023. There were 334 votes in favor, 90 against and two abstentions. The PEC raises from 20% to 30% the percentage that can be reallocated from the revenue of all federal taxes and social contributions. It also creates a similar mechanism for states, municipalities and the Federal District.
The DRU (Social Security Reform) gives the government the right to freely use revenues obtained from taxes and contributions that should normally be allocated to specific areas. This authorization from Congress (DRU) for revenue reallocation expired on December 31, 2015.
In the vote this morning, the deputies approved the text of the rapporteur, Laudivio Carvalho (SD-MG), replacing the proposal submitted by the ousted president Dilma Rousseff. The rapporteur's substitute increases the percentage of unlinking to 30% and extends the deadline for the DRU (Social Security Reform) from 2019 to 2023. The measure also retroactively applies the changes to January 1st.
The changes to the government's original proposal have drawn criticism from parliamentarians from both the allied base and the opposition. The leader of the PSOL party, Ivan Valente (SP), said that the decoupling would be like giving a blank check to the government of interim president Michel Temer. "We are giving a blank check to operate the budget, define priorities, shift resources and, mainly, in this proposal the number one objective is to generate a primary surplus to pay interest on the public debt," said Valente.
Congressman Arnaldo Faria de Sá (PTB-SP) criticized the increase in the percentage to 30% and said that the measure will remove resources from Social Security. “What they are doing in the dead of night is stealing resources from Social Security. It was 20% of the DRU (Social Security Revenue Sharing) and now they are going to take 30%, a 50% increase, and then they will say there is no money to pay retirees and pensioners. It was to justify the pension reform. It will fatally compromise Social Security,” he stated.
Congressman André Figueiredo (PDT-CE) stated that if the percentage is definitively approved, it will represent a loss of R$ 120 billion for social security. “In addition to increasing the percentage to 30%, we are also extending the deadline to 2023. We already gave a blank check by approving a fiscal deficit of R$ 170 billion, and now they want to give another check with this proposal,” he said.
With the approval in the first round, the government's idea now is to take the text to the Chamber's plenary session next week for a second-round vote.