'Core team' of the Transition negotiates Constitutional Amendment with a two-year validity.
The text proposes to exempt the Bolsa Família program from the spending cap. The initial idea of the elected government was to permanently remove the benefit from the spending cap limits.
247 - Members of the "hard core" of the transition team for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) government are negotiating with the National Congress for a two-year validity period for the Transition Amendment, which aims to exempt Bolsa Família and other benefits – totaling approximately R$ 198 billion – from the spending cap. The assessment is that there is a "greater chance" of approving the text with a two-year validity period.
According to Basília Rodrigues, from CNN BrazilThe transition defined a "hard core" of the team - a core of political articulation - to avoid "misunderstandings in statements." "Only these names on this more restricted team, for dialogue with other parties and with Congress, actually have the answers about when the ministers will arrive, when the consensus text of the Transition Amendment will be released."
If approved, the PEC (Proposed Constitutional Amendment) with a two-year term would be an intermediate path between what the PT (Workers' Party) wanted, which was to leave Bolsa Família (a social welfare program) outside the spending cap rule for four years (or indefinitely), and what self-declared independent parliamentarians and those from Bolsonaro's base advocate, who suggest the exception to the fiscal rule only in 2023. "In recent days, based on conversations with this hard core of political articulation, they seem to have reached another consensus, around two years. So if one [year] is too short, four is too long. It would be a PEC with Auxílio Brasil (a social welfare program) excluded for two years."
The two-year period would allow the elected government to become aware of the true state of public finances, as well as ensure the payment of the benefit, amounting to R$ 600, to registered families for the stipulated period. Furthermore, the timeframe would allow the elected government to develop a new fiscal policy.
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