Representatives from the Executive and Legislative branches held a Monday meeting this Thursday (10) to discuss measures taken to put an end to the so-called “secret budget”. The meeting was called by minister Flávio Dino, from the (STF).
At the meeting, Congress said it will detail in five days which deputies and senators failed to inform whether they indicated the “rapporteur’s amendments” to the Budget.
What is the “secret budget”?
The mechanism for sending money was not transparent, and was therefore called “secret”.
This information was requested by the STF in 2022. Only a portion of congressmen reported whether they “sponsored” rapporteur amendments: 360 deputies and 69 senators.
The data refers to 2020 and 2021. At the end of 2022, the Court ruled the instrument unconstitutional.
Legislative representatives said that the list of congressmen that will be sent “does not indicate that parliamentarians made nominations”. “It merely addresses the difference between those who were in the legislature and those who responded,” according to minutes of the hearing.
“Greater reflection”
Congress also said that “greater reflection” is needed on the prohibition for parliamentarians to send an amendment appeal to a state other than their own.
According to representatives of the Legislature, “there are technical justifications for the possible appointment of parliamentarians from another entity of the federation to another, in cases where, for example, they provide public services to more than one entity”.
The determination to link it to the parliamentarian’s state was made by Dino after a first hearing on the topic.
The hearing was a technical meeting that also included the participation of representatives from the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), PSOL (author of the action in which the topic is discussed) and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR). Dino did not participate in the meeting.
In the decision in which, the minister said that he would evaluate after the hearing the resumption of the execution of amendments RP 8 (commission) and RP 9 (rapporteur). There has not yet been a decision from the magistrate in this regard.
Bill
Part of the points determined by the minister should be addressed in a complementary bill, being studied by the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic, according to the meeting participants.
The proposal must cover issues such as the definition of investments of a “national nature” that should begin to receive resources from the committee and bench amendments. The objective is to avoid spreading money across several smaller projects.
Another item that must be addressed by the bill is that which deals with the prioritization of unfinished works when sending amendments.
Audience
The hearing was scheduled by Dino at the end of September. At the time, the minister criticized the delay in implementing the Court’s determination that considered the practice of allocating amendments without transparency to be unconstitutional. The decision was given in December 2022.
“I emphasize, once again, that it is absolutely incompatible with the Federal Constitution, including in terms of harmony between the Powers, that a STF ruling has not yet been adequately executed, almost 2 (two) years after the date of the judgment that ordered the end of the ‘secret budget’”, stated the minister, in the decision.
