Lula proposes to Congress to remove federal aid to RS from the fiscal target

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) signed this Monday afternoon (May 6, 2024) a PDL (Project Legislative Decree) to speed up the federal government’s aid measures for Rio Grande do Sul, which is registering strong rains and floods since April 28th. According to the latest Civil Defense bulletin, released at 12pm, the number of deaths rose to 83 and there are still 111 missing.

The project authorizes the federal government to exclude from the fiscal target expenses incurred through extraordinary credit to help the State recover from the climate disaster. The document also calls for the declaration of a state of public calamity until December 31st.

Lula announced the measure in a meeting at Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília, with the presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). The text will be sent to the National Congress.

The PT member stated that the text will be the 1st of a “large number of acts” that will be made to assist in the State’s situation.

Read the PDL text below:

Sérgio Lima/Poder360 – May 6, 2024

The meeting was closed to the press, but the beginning of the meeting was broadcast by EBC (Empresa Brasil de Comunicação).

According to Lula, the project aims to “give speed” to meet the needs of Rio Grande do Sul. “The decree will make it easier. It’s the 1st step for things to start”declared the president.

Watch (2min):

According to the Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, who also participated in the meeting, the exclusion of expenses from the fiscal target will be limited to actions related to the public calamity in the municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul affected by the floods.

“This decree gives us legal certainty, transparency and public control […] It means the real possibility, following approval by the National Congress, that we can then have exceptionalities in the Fiscal Responsibility Law to help the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the budgetary, financial aspect and with incentives and benefits”he stated.

The minister said that there is no need to issue a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) to authorize the transfer of resources to the State because, during the covid pandemic, changes were authorized in the Fiscal Responsibility Law to resemble cases of public calamity to those of a state of siege and defense.

“This legislative decree is an umbrella. We can edit many other acts. A possible provisional measure with extraordinary credit, a negotiation between the Ministry of Finance and the State governor in relation to the debt, in relation to incentives and benefits for the productive sectors, traders, businesspeople, agroindustry, agriculture, livestock and also for the population that was obviously hit.”said Tebet.

On Sunday (May 5), the Lula government recognized a state of public calamity in 336 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul affected by the rains hitting the state. With this measure, the transfer of emergency resources is facilitated.