Chamber approves recognition of state of calamity in Rio Grande do Sul – News

05/06/2024 – 21:50
• Updated on 05/06/2024 – 22:07

The Chamber of Deputies approved this Monday (6) a draft legislative decree (PDL) recognizing a state of public calamity in Rio Grande do Sul until December 31, 2024.

PDL 236/24, derived from a message from the Executive Branch, and reported by deputy Osmar Terra (MDB-RS), will be sent to the Senate.

Terra stated that the decree has an important value of unity around the tragedy that Rio Grande do Sul is suffering. “It opens the doors to placing Union resources on an important scale in Rio Grande do Sul. There is more or less R$5 billion that can be used without causing damage to the fiscal goals (of Itaipu, Petrobras),” she said. According to Terra, the population is setting a huge example of human solidarity. “We are living in a moment of extreme solidarity fervor,” she said.

Representative Bohn Gass (PT-RS) also highlighted the solidarity of volunteering during the tragedy and stated that the legislative decree will allow for a reduction in bureaucracy in the release of resources. The deputy criticized, however, the abusive increase in prices for basic items such as drinking water amid the population’s needs. “It was like this during Covid, people took advantage of it to increase the cost of essential health products.”, he stated. According to him, this type of attitude to profit from the crisis generates indignation.

Civil defense
According to data from the state’s Civil Defense, so far 85 deaths have been recorded, 111 missing, around 150,000 people displaced, of which 20,000 in shelters and another 130,000 in the homes of family or friends. The storms started ten days ago and hit 364 municipalities.

In Porto Alegre, four of the six water treatment plants are not working. There are areas in the state also without energy and communication. The state government declared a state of calamity.

The project authorizes the Union not to calculate, for the fiscal result target, exclusively the expenses authorized through extraordinary credit and the tax waivers necessary to face this public calamity and its social and economic consequences. The money used for this purpose will also not be subject to commitment limitations (contingency).

Tax restrictions
However, to enable the application of resources in relief operations, assistance to victims, restoration of essential services and reconstruction actions for destroyed public and private infrastructure, other limitations provided for in the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF) will be waived:

• compensation for the expansion of incentives or benefits of a tax nature through expense cuts or increased revenue;
• estimate of budgetary and financial impact and compatibility with the multi-year plan and the budget guidelines law;
• estimate of expenses and the origin of resources for increased expenses on an ongoing basis;
• -prohibition of carrying out credit operations between an entity of the Federation and a fund, foundation or state company of another entity;
• prohibition of raising funds as an advance of revenue, of receiving amounts in advance from a state-owned company or of making commitments with suppliers for subsequent payment of goods and services;
• in the case of city halls, the prohibition of incurring expenses in the last eight months of the mandate that cannot be fully fulfilled within the mandate or without cash on hand to pay future installments;
• compliance with deadlines for reframing personnel expenses above the LRF limits; It is
• compliance with deadlines to bring the consolidated debt within the established limits.

Climate changes
The coordinator of the Mixed Environmentalist Parliamentary Front, deputy Nilto Tatto (PT-SP), criticized projects approved in Congress that do not help to combat the climate crisis. “Rio Grande do Sul, in just under a year, had three extreme events. These events will continue to happen because science’s warnings were not heeded 30, 40 years ago,” he said. Tatto defended the approval of proposals to increase the resilience of cities to the climate crisis.

The coordinator of the Parliamentary Front for Risk and Disaster Management, deputy Gilson Daniel (PODE-ES), questioned the lack of priority given to the topic. “We had a drought in the Amazon. Look what is happening in this country. When will we wake up to this issue? Maybe Rio Grande do Sul will light the fire in every parliamentarian and this issue will be voted on,” he said.

Osmar Terra highlighted, however, that the debate on climate change could indicate that the people of Rio Grande do Sul would not take care of the environment. “The people of Rio Grande are extremely respectful of the environment. There is no mistake on the part of the population in this matter,” he stated.

Report – Eduardo Piovesan and Tiago Miranda
Editing – Georgia Moraes