Pacheco fires at the government and reacts in the STF

The president of Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), returned to the attack against the government, for having appealed to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to overturn the payroll exemption, in a move classified by the parliamentarian as “unfortunate precipitation”. He appealed, this Friday, the decision of Minister Cristiano Zanin, of the Court, who responded to the request of Palácio do Planalto and suspended, on Thursday, sections of the law.

Pacheco contested the allegation of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) — accepted by Zanin — that, with the exemption, there would be “a significant imbalance in public accounts and an emptying of the constitutionalized fiscal regime.” The minister’s preliminary decision is being judged in the Court’s virtual plenary session and has five votes in favor of the judge’s understanding.

“I affirm, as president of the Senate, that this premise is not true. The law that was approved, 14,784 of 2023, provides in a very clear, categorical way, the budgetary and financial estimate required by article 113, both for the exemption of the 17 sectors, as well as tax relief for municipalities”, he emphasized. “Therefore, this requirement invoked by the Attorney General’s Office, as being breached to justify the acceptance of an ADI, is not valid, it is materialized in the legislative process and in the demonstrations that we will make to the Federal Supreme Court.”

He reinforced the commitment that Congress made to approve measures that increased government revenue and signaled that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s decision to judicialize the issue was taken at a bad time, since the Planalto does not have a broad base in Parliament. and still needs to coordinate approvals of projects that increase federal revenue, such as the resumption of collection of Mandatory Personal Injury Insurance for Land Motor Vehicles (DPVAT).

“2023 was a year in which the National Congress provided Brazil and, naturally, the federal government, with means to have governability and a revenue that could cover the public expenses proposed by the government”, he recalled. “All the projects we approved, until the beginning of this year, represented a reality of revenue in the first three months of 2024 far beyond what was collected in the first three months of 2023. An increase of almost R$80 billion more in revenue in 2024, compared to the same period in 2023: 8.36% more, already discounted for inflation.”

Engagement

The judicialization of the issue causes new tension between the Executive and Legislative branches. Pacheco reiterated that the government does not have a majority in Congress and that parliamentarians will not “give up on defending Brazil’s municipalities, the sectors of the economy.”

“This was work by the Chamber of Deputies, work by the Federal Senate, a very strong engagement in houses where the government does not have a majority, precisely so that it could provide revenue that would cover public spending and the planning proposal. government for Brazil”, he stressed. “And it’s incredible now that we are faced with a situation as if Brazil’s problems were limited to the reduction of payroll taxes in the 17 sectors and municipalities.”

He assured that, since the government took the initiative to reopen the debate on payroll repayment, Congress will promote a debate on public spending and spending cuts.

“What is the government’s proposal, besides collecting money? What is the proposal to cut spending to balance the accounts? What other sustainable collection do we have from a national development plan, a new industrial cycle, new energy matrices , new investments that we can have to grow the economy?”, he asked. “So, since there was this provocation for reflection in relation to this, let’s have a big debate now, too, about how to increase revenue without sacrificing the taxpayer who creates jobs, and where we can cut excess spending public. Let’s be willing to have this debate”, he added.

Pacheco and the author of the article, senator Efraim Filho (União-PB), mentioned the frustration caused by the “hasty, out of context and out of moment” judicialization, as assessed by the president of the Senate.

“It is very important now that all projects of interest to the government also identify what Brazil’s interests are, through its representatives, who are deputies and senators. And there is a great interest on the part of deputies and senators to help Brazilian municipalities” , he pinned. “So, this ends up being an object of our priority. From every project that comes in relation to increasing revenue, now we link and stamp that this also needs to serve Brazilian municipalities, that it is not just the Union’s revenue that matters to Brazil.”

The author of the text assessed that judicializing issues “weakens the policy”. “Congress delivered much more to the government than the public policies to exempt municipalities’ payrolls that were approved and have been identified by the government as unconstitutional”, pointed out Efraim.

In a statement, the AGU defended that it is guided by “the highest institutional respect for the Powers of the Republic and will continue on the right path towards building harmony”. “Our position was, on a preliminary basis, accepted by Minister Zanin. It is very important to highlight that, in the decision, the reporting minister highlighted the importance of institutional dialogue, a position that has our full support”, observed the Union’s attorney general Jorge Messias in the communicated.