'Letter from Maceió' must be delivered to Temer.

Alagoas 247 - Governor Renan Filho (PMDB) embarked, in the early afternoon of this Wednesday (1), for Brasília, where he will participate in a meeting bringing together all the governors of Brazil and the acting president Michel Temer (PMDB). On the occasion, Renan Filho should present to Michel Temer the points of the 'Carta de Maceió', a document that is the result of a day of debates between the governors and the finance secretaries of the Northeast on the main demands for the region.

The 'Maceió Letter' should be presented to Temer by Renan Filho, since the event with the managers was held in Maceió at the beginning of May. The governor has been demanding special attention from the federal government for Alagoas, especially regarding the review of the amount of debt with the Union, which is around R$ 9 billion, and the monthly payment of interest on the debt, of more than R$ 53 million.

At the meeting held in Alagoas, the governors advocated for a one-year suspension of state debt to the federal government. Another demand presented by the governors, and already met by the president, concerns the re-establishment of the Ministry of Culture. The governors highlighted the need for the state to promote access to culture in all its public spheres. 

See below the full text of the Maceió Charter:

Brazil is going through a time of extreme difficulty and complexity. The impacts of the crisis plaguing the country are already being felt by all Brazilian citizens. 

Political instability and economic slowdown, with the consequent deterioration in revenue for federative entities, including the Federal Government, compromise the provision of basic public services. This is mainly due to the fact that the management of most essential services for society is the responsibility of states and municipalities, which depend on federal transfers to finance their service provision. This reality is particularly present in the Northeast region. 

With the worsening of the crisis, starting in the last quarter of 2015, the financial situation of most state and municipal entities approached its limit. This resulted in cases of delayed and/or installment payments of salaries to public employees and payments to suppliers. This situation is creating a scenario of collapse. The possibility of interruption of several essential services is real, since the delay in payments to suppliers causes difficulties in the continuity of meeting the demands of public entities by these agents, due to problems in cash flow.

The most direct consequence for the population is rising unemployment, which reached a national rate of 10,9% in the first quarter of 2016. For the Northeast region, the effect is even more damaging. Unemployment in the region, during the same period, rose to 12,8%. According to Caged (General Register of Employed and Unemployed Workers), 139,000 jobs disappeared in the Northeast region between January and March 2016. This represents 43,5% of the total jobs lost in the country.

Beyond the federal agenda, we remain attentive to the democratic question, convinced that any way out of the crisis and the resumption of development necessarily involves preserving democratic principles and respecting our Citizen Constitution.

We draw special attention to the need to avoid institutional and social setbacks. We advocate for the maintenance of social, cultural, and gender-related public policies that have promoted inclusion and upward mobility for large segments of the Brazilian population, particularly in the Northeast. The works of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), which are very important for the Northeast, must be maintained and continued, as well as the "My House, My Life" program, income distribution policies, and the promotion of human and cultural rights.

In light of the above, we, the governors of the Northeastern states, gathered in Maceió, Alagoas, after a day of debates and reflections on building a positive agenda focused on national and regional development and overcoming the serious economic crisis, unanimously present our aspirations:

1. Participation in discussions on fiscal adjustments that have repercussions for states and municipalities;

2. Support for the State Debt Extension Project, with a 12-month grace period for debts with the Federal Government and a 4-year grace period for debts financed by BNDES;

3. Urgent approval of Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 152/2015, which creates the New Special Regime for Court-Ordered Payments; Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 159/2015, which deals with Judicial Deposits for the Payment of Court-Ordered Payments; and approval of Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 128/2015, which prohibits the creation and expansion of expenses for States and Municipalities without the presentation of the necessary sources of revenue;

4. Urgent authorization for contracting new credit operations as a way to resume investments and generate employment;

5. It is recommended to adopt a 10% reduction in the tax benefits granted, regulating ICMS Agreement 42/2016, approved by all Brazilian states in the Confaz: stipulate that at least 10% of the tax benefits and incentives granted be allocated to a Fund, to be defined by each State;

6. Maintenance of structural works, especially water infrastructure projects, such as the São Francisco River diversion project;

7. Development of a National Public Security Policy, encompassing points such as: border control; national standardization of rates of intentional lethal violent crimes (CVLI); establishment of criteria for the automatic transfer of 50% of the resources from the National Penitentiary Fund (FUPEN) to the States, using the distribution criteria of the State and Federal District Participation Fund (FPE);

8. Priority support for families with children born with microcephaly, within the scope of social programs developed by the Federal Government;

9. Adoption of measures to overcome the underfunding of the Unified Health System (SUS), as a way to reverse the deterioration of health services;

10. Creation, by the Union, of PreviFederação, to serve the States that have established Supplementary Pension Plans. 

The legitimacy of the claims contained in this Charter is primarily associated with the Union's exclusive ability to finance itself through the issuance of public bonds during these periods of severe economic crisis.

The prohibition on states issuing bonds to finance themselves may have contributed to the improvement of the nation's overall fiscal situation over the past 15 years, but the financial constraints imposed on states and municipalities during the most severe crisis the country has ever faced require a degree of coordination and appropriate federal solutions. 

José Renan Vasconcelos Calheiros Filho

Alagoas

Rui Costa dos Santos

Bahia 

Camilo Sobreira de Santana

Ceará 

Flávio Dino de Castro e Costa

Maranhao 

Ricardo Vieira Coutinho

Paraíba 

Paulo Henrique Saraiva Câmara

Pernambuco

José Wellington Barroso de Araújo Dias

Piaui

Robinson Mesquita de Faria

Rio Grande do Norte