Lula receives Lira, Pacheco and Fachin to discuss aid for Rio Grande do Sul | Policy

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) discussed at the Palácio do Planalto, this Monday (6), with heads of the Legislature and Judiciary the measures to enable financial assistance for Rio Grande do Sul.

Lula received at Planalto the presidents of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the vice-president of the Federal Supreme Court, minister Luiz Edson Fachin.

The three were on Sunday (5) with Lula in Canoas and Porto Alegre. Rio Grande do Sul is facing the consequences of more than a week of rain that overflowed rivers, flooded cities and killed more than 80 people.

The government and Congress are discussing the legal ways that allow the transfer of money for the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul without violating tax legislation.

The governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite (PSDB), asked Lula, Pacheco and Lira to make fiscal rules more flexible to speed up the transfer of money.

Lula discussed the topic in the morning with the ministers and invited the heads of the Legislative and Judiciary powers to a new meeting.

Ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance), Rui Costa (Civil House), Simone Tebet (Planning), Jorge Messias (AGU), Esther Dweck (Management) and Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) also participated in the meeting with Lira, Pacheco and Fachin.

Lula intends to announce the format of support for Rio Grande do Sul this Monday.

According to the government leader in Congress, senator Randolfe Rodrigues (AP), Planalto defends the following path to respect tax legislation and make financial aid possible:

• Approval by Congress of a legislative decree that recognizes the situation of public calamity in Rio Grande do Sul;
• Approval by Congress of a project to modify the expenses provided for in the Budgetary Guidelines Law and make spending limits more flexible;
• Once the previous actions were approved, the government would then issue a provisional measure that opens extraordinary credit and allows the sending of money to Rio Grande do Sul.

Extraordinary credit is an authorization for the government to use additional resources to meet unpredictable and urgent expenses, such as those arising from war, internal commotion or public calamity. This credit is created through a provisional measure and requires approval from the National Congress.

The understanding in Planalto is that the current legislation – Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF) and fiscal framework – is expected to make fiscal rules more flexible in the case of a public calamity recognized by the National Congress.