Government blocks R$7.6bn in rapporteur’s amendments in 2022
The blocking of rapporteur’s amendments, one of the main instruments of political negotiation of the federal government with Congress, reaches R$7.6 billion this year. The number is part of a survey conducted by the Budget, Inspection and Control Consulting of the Federal Senate (Conorf), based on data from the Integrated Planning and Budget System (Siop).With Congress slowing down the work because of the proximity of the elections, it is possible that the measure will have no impact on votes of interest to the government. The Ministry of Regional Development is the most affected by the measure, followed by Health and Citizenship.Parliamentary amendments are funds sent by lawmakers to their constituency in order to be used in public works, for example. But part of these funds needed to be blocked so that the federal government can comply with the spending cap rule, which limits the growth of primary expenditure (which excludes spending on public debt) to the previous year’s inflation. The 2022 federal budget foresees nearly R$16.5 billion in rapporteur’s amendments.In the view of the political scientist Humberto Dantas, the blocking has the potential to bring friction between President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, PL) and allies in Congress."Most likely it is an amount that has been promised to someone," he says, noting also that several lawmakers are seeking reelection, which makes the amendments even more important at this time.According to Mr. Dantas, "one imagines that in an intelligent way" at least part of the blocked funds would go to lawmakers who will not seek reelection or senators who already have four more years in office after 2023."We need to see how the government is going to solve this. This is pure political negotiation," he said.David Verge Fleischer, a professor emeritus of Political Science at the University of Brasília (UnB), says that although the rapporteur’s amendments represent a political asset in the hands of the federal government, the blocking does not necessarily mean a defeat for the president."Congress is in a bit of a standstill because of the elections," he says, highlighting that this reduces the pressure to release the funds.According to Congress’s officials consulted by Valor, the electoral legislation allows the amendments to be unblocked this year, as long as they are not classified as voluntary transfers.Among the ministries, the main target of the blockade of rapporteur’s amendments is Regional...
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