Congress passes law allowing donations during election time

While attention in Brasília turned to the approval of the Benefits PEC, the National Congress approved two bills that amend the rules of the 2022 Budget.

One of them allows funds destined for a specific municipality and expenditure to be redirected to another location and object.

The other bill authorizes donations in an election year and allows changes in the nature of parliamentary amendments — removing the rapporteur’s name and eliminating transparency about the use of funds.

A congressional technician heard by the CNN who followed the negotiations for the approval of the projects, states that parliamentarians articulated themselves to approve both texts in a symbolic vote.

In this type of vote, the nominal vote is waived, that is, all votes are considered favorable, except for parliamentarians who express a contrary vote — votes are not required one by one.

He stated that, within Congress, the changes are classified as a “budget pedaling” and the impression is that there is no longer any kind of brake on the use of Federal Budget resources.

Also according to sources heard by CNN, the permission of donations is seen as an affront to electoral rules, which provide for equality of dispute, and as something capable, even, of changing the course of the elections.

Understand what the projects say

The first project proved on Tuesday (12), PLN 17/22, approved on Tuesday (12), allows changes in funds already committed. The text allows altering the creditor (who receives the amount) and the object of a pledge, as long as the nature is maintained.

In practice, it authorizes the cancellation of a project planned in one city to allocate the funds to another. For example, an asphalt correction work not carried out in one city may have the resources earmarked for another asphalt correction work in another municipality. Both amendments are provided for in articles 64 and 85 of PLN 17, which together allow for these changes.

Another part of the same project, provided for in article 81, allows donations to be made in an election year, which is vetoed by the Electoral Law.

The second project, also approved on Tuesday (12), PLN 14/22, changes the rules for distributing parliamentary amendments.

Commission (RP8) and rapporteur (RP9) amendments can be turned into mandatory (RP1) or discretionary (RP2) expenses. When transformed into RP1 or RP2, these appropriations delete the rapporteur’s name. That is, they are transformed into expenditure schedules that allow the allocation of funds without identification.

As the texts were approved by Congress, they now go to the sanction of President Jair Bolsonaro, who can veto some device.